Friday, July 31, 2020

SCOUTING A DRIVE

'The husband' and I scouted an upcoming drive & social distancing picnic for our local car club.  This one will be strictly for SUV's.  All our drives are scouted (often more than once) for fun driving roads, map making, mileage points between areas we may stop, bathroom facilities, parking for 15 cars, and restaurant (now picnic) accommodations.  We are restricted to 15 car groups for each outing following the regulations of the national PCA Association guide.  Covid too has challenged the planning but hasn't dampened the interest.  Sign ups for drives are usually filled in hours, not days.

We first learned about Wayah Bald from our UPS delivery man whose Grandfather was one of the Rangers, who with his wife, lived and work there for many years. It's an out of the way popular destination that is not unknown to out of town visitors. 

 The access road is gravel with lots of ruts and often very narrow, a challenge when meeting a car coming from the opposite direction!  Plan to drive no more than about 10 mph for 15-20 minutes just to reach the parking area at the top.  SUV recommended.
Someone left a walking stick leaning against the sign for another visitor to use.

 Hopefully if you click on these two photos you will be able to read the information.  Here's a link to read more about Wayah Bald.

 The tower has undergone restoration over the years, allowing a safe passage to view at the top.
 My photos simply do not do justice to the uninterrupted long range view, but you get the idea.
The vistas are breathtaking.  The elevation is over 5,300 feet so fog can be an issue, luckily it was beautiful the morning we visited.

4 comments:

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Wow, you found a stunningly beautiful place to have your outing. Wish it wasn't a gravel road.

Nancy said...

Oh, that's a top ten view! I enlarged the photo of John Byrne- interesting bio. Your travelers will love the route you've planned.

Kathie Briggs said...

What a beautiful place. You are so lucky to have a group that plans such fun outings. Thanks for the history and the bio of John Byrne. Maybe someday when (if) Bob's back ever gets better we can attempt the trip in one of our Jeeps.

The Inside Stori said...

Kathie....we do know how fortunate we are to have such an active car club.....and unlike many organizations.....there is so much support from the general membership, not just a few. In those circumstances, no one gets burned out and the fun can continue. It is a bumpy drive on the gravel road, but they've made improvements to the road since we started coming to this site. Go on a nice day and just take your time.