Smoky Mountains Dig Out After Freak Blizzard

This is what too many of my southern motorcycle friends believe is normal winter weather in the Smoky Mountains – freezing temperatures, snow everywhere, ice covers the roads, and we huddle around our home fires waiting for the the spring thaw. It’s rarely the case, but just to reinforce the misconception here’s a photo of the storm during it’s peak on Friday –

Photo from the peak of the snow storm on Friday at Foxfire Cabin here in Waynesville, North Carolina, the heart of the Smoky Mountains..

The last time this area had a snow like this was the great blizzard of 1993 which is still talked about with reverent infamy. I was not living here for that, though I was passing through the area and forced to stop. Little did I know years later I would come to live in that very same small mountain town.

We got something in the neighborhood of 15 inches of the white stuff which started out light and powdery then became wet and heavy later in the night. We lost power for a good while, many still wait for it’s return. No internet service, even the cell phones stopped working a while. My wife was working in Asheville and despite leaving work at 1 PM, it was after 4 when I finally got her home from what is normally a 30 minute drive. The snow came faster than the crews could keep up with it on the interstate and once the hills started icing, the wrecks piled up. She got stuck on an incline, managed to work free and get off the highway, only to get trapped in the bowl of an icy intersection not far from home. She got towed into the parking lot of the nearby Lowes.

I managed to get there to rescue her and only made it up the hill to the house by piling several hundred pounds of rocks in the bed of the truck and letting the air out of the tires. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend shoveling the driveway and then the road so I could get her out to work this morning. I am one sore dude.

Just to prove to my warm climate friends that this is a fluke, just look back at the past couple blog posts to see I was indeed out on the bike earlier in the week, and as soon as the roads clear, I’ll be back in the saddle again. It will probably be after Christmas though, as another snow storm seems headed our way on Thursday. Honest guys, this is not typical!

In the mean time I'll be skiing the Blue Ridge Parkway as soon as I can get there.

Don’t feel bad for us here in mountain paradise, we roll with the punches. There will be plenty of motorcycle riding to come in the months ahead. And when live gives you lemons, put on the skis and head for the Blue Ridge Parkway as soon as the roads are clear enough. PS – don’t eat the yellow snow, it has nothing to do with the lemons.

Wayne@americaridesmaps.com

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Snow Comes to the Blue Ridge Parkway – Photo

It’s not the first snow we’ve had this fall, but it should be the first decent accumulation in the Carolina mountains. While the motorcycle will be sitting it out, and the Blue Ridge Parkway will be closed to traffic, it will be one of the first places I try to get to tomorrow if we get a good dumping. Once those gates are shut, it becomes our winter playground and you’d be surprised how much time we spend up there. That great road turns into a wonderful cross-country ski trail a few times each year.

The Devil's Courthouse overlook after a snowfall.

I took this photo last year on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Devil’s Courthouse overlook on one of those cross-country skiing days. They don’t happen often. The winds at elevation tend to blow the snow off the roads before it gets a good enough base to last. You’ve got to strike quickly to enjoy it.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I just put new snow tires on the truck so maybe we can make it. They won’t plow up high for a day or two at least and the drive up is usually more exciting than the skiing. Next week it will all be gone and I’ll be back out on the motorcycle again. But for now, let it snow!

Wayne@americaridesmaps.com