TN/NC & GA Traverse 2022

Well, it’s been awhile since I was last on the road. I guess I subconsciously decided to spend the winter hunkered down and working, saving up enough money and pent-up desire to make this summer one full of adventure.

Ideally I would’ve waited a bit longer, until it got a bit warmer. But I was feeling locked in, which is something I truly do not like, so I decided to head up to the mountains for a week.

I was going to leave sometime in the first weekend of April, but it got pushed back due to different reasons. Eventually, I decided Monday afternoon — leaving enough time to get up to the mountains in North Carolina for sunset.

Well, last week I ordered a 100w Renogy panel to mount to my tent. And it was showing up Monday. In fact, as I pulled out of the driveway, the mailman was delivering on the next street over. So be it, I decided, the wiring is being shipped separately anyhow.

Well, I made it 20 minutes outside of Charleston, and got the text from my dad. Yes, the panel had been dropped off, but the Amazon driver had just made a stop, and the wiring was now back home as well.

So I flipped around and spent the next 2 hours mounting the panel (VHB tape holding the panel to the roof of the tent) and running wiring. For some reason, newer Jackery E1500s/E2000s don’t use the same 8mm plug as literally everyone else, including Jackery’s smaller units, so I had to jerry rig it a bit until I find a permanent solution.



So now, FINALLY, I was hit the road. The hope of a sunset was long gone.

I decided to camp near Jumping Off Rock and grab the sunrise there instead, though I also had some hope of the sunset (even though the GPS said I’d get there at 8:30PM).

The sunset was seen from the drivers seat, but the sunrise was seen from the mountain; spectacular — as they always are in wonderful South Carolina.



The forecast for today (Tuesday) called for rain, and I like driving in the rain, so I decided to head up to Tennessee after breakfast (blueberry bagels/strawberry cream cheese). Recently I was sent and ARB Zero fridge to review, and it’s made such a difference in my eating habits on the road. Pretty much everything I eat is cooled now, whereas before I had it split between dry goods and refrigerated due to the size of my cooler. Not having to get ice and drain water is lovely as well, though soon enough I’ll have all my thoughts in an article on TrailTundra.com

Anyhow, Tennessee. I headed to a firetower near the NC border which I won’t name as it’s already seeing a lot of wear. The weather was truly atrocious. Like, temp dropped 30 degrees and constant mist. I ended up spending the entire day in the truck, parked around the firetower. Eventually I dared myself to climb it, probably a bad idea. It was swaying and looked not the least bit sturdy, the trees were nearly bending 90 degrees with each gust. Palms sweating, I raced back down and decided I’d try again in the morning.



But before morning, came night. Probably the worst night of sleep I’ve ever had in my truck. Because of the terrible weather I decided to sleep in the cab, and for some reason I couldn’t figure out how to set it up as I normally do. If you look at your Tundras seatbelt buckles, they move about 2 inches up and down. Exactly where your spine would be if you’re, say, laying across the bench seat. Some nights I get it right, I don’t know how, others I am basically awake all night trying to figure out how I did get it right previously.

A bit later, 6AM rolled around, and I drove a short ways back to the fire tower. The fog was insane, I was pretty disappointed. It was supposed to have cleared up quite a bit, yet hadn’t. The wind was much calmer though, so I ascended once more.

To be honest, I had zero confidence in the structural integrity of this thing. I really did try my best to distract myself, to make it until sometime after sunrise. I stayed up there until 7:07, didn’t see the sun, and scrambled down. About 5 minutes later, as I was driving back down the mountain, I saw it through the trees for a split second. The colors were insane, the sun peaking through the fog. The world was a bright pink, maybe a bit purple, and then not more than 15 seconds later, before I could grab my camera from the passenger seat, it was gone. Back to gray.

On the way down the mountain though, this view.



So I carried on, heading north. The night before I saw the weather was supposed to be 80 degrees, it’s currently 10:53AM and definitely seems to be warming up. I researched along the French Broad River, found three boat ramps and a few campsites in-between, and headed out.

First stop, gas. $4.29. One of the older pumps, pay inside after. The gent came out and watched me like a hawk, pretty awkward but I was in the middle of some small town in Tennessee. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist unfortunately.



$64 poorer and 30 minutes of driving later, I hit the first little spot along the river. I marked it in onX, no doubt I’ll be back some day. An absolutely stunning place, an area big enough for a few cars and a little beach of it’s own. Hopefully when I return they haven’t put an apartment building there, that seems to be a common thing nowadays.

Next up was a National Forest boat ramp. Not worth discussing, pretty terrible. Not much access to the river besides a steep shoreline, and far too close to the highway.

Finally, I headed into the forest. 45 minutes or so later, I took a sharp right, and down a pretty terrible set of rock ledges, here I sit. An absolutely stunning view, plenty of sunlight for both myself and my solar panels, and enough seclusion to satisfy a recluse like myself.



Now I’ll go take a nap, and later, as it warms up, I might go for a swim.

Until next time,

 

Well, I did go for a swim. It was a bit chilly, but better than showering at a gym, so I am pretty content.


I planned on staying for the night, but with a mediocre view of the sunset and an incoming storm (ie flash flooding possible) I decided to head out to Max Patch. When I arrived, I was the only person there. I’ve never been there alone, it was fantastic. The sunset was disappointing, the storm rolled in quick, so a few hours later I called it. Before heading down, I could literally see the walls of rain overtaking each row of mountains. Before long, I could hear the thunder.



I drove quickly to a nearby favorite spot of mine. Quickly got ready for bed and zipped up all the windows.

Then the storm came through. My poor tent has been through quite a lot, so I was sure she’d survive. The winds were crazy, forecast said 60mph though I was in the trees so it was much less, maybe gusts up to 20mph. Small hail, rain, lightning, thunder. I didn’t sleep too much.

The next morning, I went back up to Max Patch for sunrise. The winds were howling, now it was much closer to 60mph, and the fog was insane. Couldn’t see much more than a few feet in front of me. I stuck it out in the 35 degree wet wind, and around 8 or so I called it quits. I cruised back to my little parking area, had cell service, and got some work done.



Around lunchtime, I cruised out of the forest. I pulled over to air up my tires, opened the hood. Someone always thinks I’m broken down, today was no different. A kind gentleman came over a hill and asked if I was alright, I said I sure am but I need to get some good food! He pointed me to a small diner 40 minutes or so away, so off I went.



Two things I regret not doing on all my previous adventures is eating in extremely local restaurants, and visiting all the tiny museums across the country. I’m hoping to change that this year.



This was easily the greatest sweet tea I’ve ever had, and the Mac n Cheese was right up there with the best.

With a full stomach, and with, finally, a decent chance of a sunset, I cruised south to Maggie Valley. I have a favorite spot up on the Parkway, tucked away up on a mountain through a little overgrown trail.

The sunset was the first decent one of the trip.



Afterwards, I had to make a choice. 27 degrees tonight — snow tomorrow. Or head home. Either way I’d have to go home tonight or the following day as I had a concert to get to.

If there was a lot of snow, perhaps enough for some sick pictures, I would’ve stayed. But with an inch or two in the forecast, it was looking like more of an inconvenience.

So after sunset, I headed back to Charleston. Made it home at 3am -- 40 and 26 were basically one lane the entire way due to construction.


As of now, April 11, the plan is to leave for Georgia and hit the GA Traverse tomorrow or Wednesday. We have fantastic weather in Charleston today and tomorrow, so it’s increasingly looking like work today, beach tomorrow, GA Wednesday. We’ll see, I’m quite fond of not being locked into plans.

Until next time,

 

Hey there- I have a few days off work coming up and thinking about spending a few days on the GA traverse. Mind if I shoot you a message to pick you brain?

 

Nice write up. Definitely some crazy weather we have had lately. Have you ever been to highlands/cashiers? Nice scenic high elevation trails.l out there. Looking forward to more of your adventures.

 

Fire away!

 

I have, but only passing thru. Anything in particular? I'm looking to spend a good portion of this summer in Western NC.

 

Nice seeing your truck in it's natural habitat, gas pump. LOL

 

Whiteside mountain is the best ive done, views on views. There are several waterfalls in the area as well i just dont recall the particular name of the trails. Also look up shadow of the bear. If you have a kayak or boat I recommend lake glenville. Really nice albeit small. And i havent personally gone but if you wanna go wheeling gorges state park is nearby

 

She’s thirsty… keep her locked at 60-65 on the interstates, I think that helps a bit

Awesome will give it a look this summer! Planning on spending half my time in Charleston, half in NC. So will definitely check it out

 

I wrote this two days ago, but have had subpar cell signal. Happy Resurrection Day.

So, for the first time in my life, things did go to plan. I left Wednesday, a buddy of mine tagged along. We left around 11:30 or so, went to his parents house an hour or so outside of ATL, where I dropped him off and spent the night in their driveway.



I spotted a 1794, 3/1 lift on the way up. Looked clean as hell.



The next morning, I got an early start. I backtracked an hour or so, hit up Waffle House, then cut into the Traverse a little bit west of the SC border. I'd unknowingly done most Traverse closest to South Carolina, so I didn't miss anything.

The weather was atrocious, cold and misty. The forecast said it was to warm up, and it did.



It's honestly been a pretty uneventful trip so far. The roads are mucky and wet, it rained for a few days before I got here. Not much to report, only a few sections a Subaru or similar wouldn't get through. With one exception;

I got stuck for the first time ever outside of Charleston. To make it sting even worse, a Jeep winched me out.



Glad this kind lady came by, merely a few minutes after I got stuck. I was trying to turn around after checking out a campsite, but the hillside was just leafs and mud. No chance, spinning and sinking.

I did find a campsite though, a nice site next to a small stream. So nice, in fact, some methheads from Florida decided to give me a visit. Made me a bit uncomfortable with their prodding, I questioned whether I should stay, but they did eventually move on and I always go with my gut which has never steered me wrong. So I stayed.




All in all, would I recommend the Traverse? Totally. It's super manageable, obviously the biggest benefit is it's a defined, known route. Trafficked decently, half/half with cell signal. I wish I could spend more time, I've found a ton of spots that I've marked on the GPS to come back and visit this summer. But the rain is coming Sunday and Monday, so I'm trying to avoid that and move fast.


I'm about 2/3rds of the way through, closing in on the Bama border. I doubt the rest is too eventful, but I probably just jinxed it...

Until next time,

Mt Yonah