Took a ride to meet in Sevierville TN for lunch to celebrate my nephew's birthday. I rode taking the long way, my wife drove so she could hit some outlet shopping before she came home. Here's what I found along the way.
First, I instead of the basic route I've taken too many times, I chose a route that took me on both sides of Douglas Lake. Overall good roads, plenty of short fun sections paired with great lake vistas made for a pleasant ride. Although, I've this was the first time I got caught behind an SUV in a twisty section and the SUV caught up to a Harley... That made for a bit of a slow section.
I finally found something interesting. I LOVE these old steel-framed bridges. This one crosses a narrow part of Lake Douglas and drops you right onto Main St. Dandridge.
I followed another road along the west side of Douglas Lake past ram-shackles and million dollar homes along the lake. I finally got to the end of the lake at the TVA dam.
Grabbed lunch around Sevierville and then headed back across some great backroads. Eventually I hit TN32 (think Deals gap twisties along with a mile of gravel) and came out at another TVA project. I love the look of these old hydro plants!
Just downsteam of the plant:
Once there past the power plant, it was a bit of slab home, but I had another interesting stop to make deep in a wildlife management area. This is what is called the "Low Water Bride." It is called that because you can only cross it if the spill gates from the lake that feeds the plant in the above pictures are closed. Otherwise, this is impassable. Notice the design, it is build so the rushing waters from the spill gates won't wash it away. So far, this design as stood the test of water for 40+ years.
Another picture from another ride that shows more of the bridge:
That's all for today! What a way to head to lunch!
JM
