I will travel on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the next couple of days. Since the mile markers go north to south and I travel south to north, I will drive "backwards". The "last" 20 miles are not passable with a big rig, since some tunnels are only 10-11 ft high. I started the trip at Balsam Gap, where The Great Smoky Expressway crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway.
It was an interesting drive uphill all the way to 6'047 ft, the highest point on the parkway. The pretty windy road is in perfect condition, although it is already over 70 years old (no commercial traffic !). There were many lookouts where I had no problem parking with my 61 ft long vehicle combination. Thanks to the higher altitude, the temperatures were very nice. Today's trip was in Nantahala National Forest and Pisgah National Forest. At Mt Pisgah is a hotel, restaurant and a nearby campground, where I settled for the night. No AT&T (for cell phone), no Verizon (air card), but my satellite dish is working again, so I have Internet and can blog and even watch a little TV. (Thanks to my huge battery bank which is fully charged from my solar panels)
Some of the photos can be seen here.
Location:
35.40323N | 82.7577W | 4944 ft |