Neat Cars in the Woods

"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly)
03/31/2019 at 16:47 • Filed to: Not enough C5 Z06 content, Tail of the Dragon, Hiking

I met up with Jordan and daender at the Tail of the Dragon on Friday afternoon. Fun was had and I went for a surprisingly car-related hike in the woods before heading home on Saturday.

After meeting up in the afternoon at the North Carolina end of the Tail, Jordan and I spoke at length about his new car. You may have heard a bit about it. Eventually we did a fun drive to the Tennessee end of the Tail, passing daender on the way. He turned around and met us there, and we all spoke for a while there. We then ran it back to North Carolina and went to get dinner. Several fun cars were present at the Tapoco Lodge while we split a pizza.

Tasteful blue Z3 M Coupe that chose to park in the back of the lot with us

GT350 that made good noises

Another Corvette and GTI combination

Jordan saw this and missed his old Fiesta ST a bit . . . only a bit

After dinner it had gotten dark so we headed back through the Tail of the Dragon again. I was in the lead and much more cautious since even with my active headlights I couldn’t look far enough ahead to be comfortable and I don’t quite have it all memorized. This meant that daender was dogging me. It didn’t help that I should have pointed my side mirrors down as his headlights were a distraction as I navigated corners. He also got to see what was coming as the follower.

Jordan took his time following us, which was quite sensible given the unfamiliar car in the dark. I should have been more sensible. At least I kept traction control on, and didn’t have any close calls. The Charger sporting police-issue steelies kept going in the other direction.

The guys left from there, and I took a fairly relaxed drive back to the Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort, and spent a couple of hours talking with my motel neighbors who were from Memphis, and who were riding adventure bikes (a Triumph Tiger 1200 and a Polaris something-something).

Tangent: They were possibly going to do a bit of the Trans-America Trail the next day, which made me start thinking about a 4Runner again, since I’ve been interested the TAT previously, and although getting a dual-sport would be fun, my wife’s stress level wouldn’t stand for it, and I don’t want to do that to her. I worry that newer 4Runners might be too wide for parts of the TAT, though.

Saturday morning I got up relatively early and did a round trip on the Tail of the Dragon at 7 a.m. when there was little activity, my favorite time. Kind of spooked by someone parked roadside in an all black Expedition with a roof rack, but otherwise pleasant. Packed up, went to Fontana Dam.

I put on my hiking gear and proceeded to take the Lakeside Trail in the Smokey Mountain National Forest. This turned out to be a relatively level-ish trail (compared with going up the mountainside on the Appalachian Trail, my other option) with several nice views of Fontana Lake, and also a number of car shells presumably from when the area was logged or when the dam was built.

Carcass #1

Carcass #2

Carcass #3

Carcass #4 - that looks like a “whoops” for sure

The dam operators had the lake level down about 20 feet for some reason

Lots of flowers just starting to bloom including this trillium

After my 3 hour hike, I got in my car and headed home. As usual, I wanted to somehow signal to every oncoming sporty car to let them know that, “I know where you are going, I’m one of your people, and you’ll have fun, too!”

DISCUSSION (16)

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 16:53

Did Jordan get PTSD seeing your GTI?

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
03/31/2019 at 16:54

If he did, he had the appropriate form of therapy in the form of the Vette.

412GTI > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 17:35

Looks like a great time. How did the GTI do on those roads? I’m thinking of going on a trip down there this summer with my detailing group.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
03/31/2019 at 17:43

Nah, without the GTI, I wouldn't have the Vette. So I thank it for that.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
03/31/2019 at 17:50

So it’ s like seeing your toxic ex, but with out her you would not be where you currently are.

daender > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 17:55

I believe the 20-ft drop in lake depth was for the rain and snow that came through last night and today! I got to go from a rainy Pigeon Forge to a snowy 441 to a foggy Blue Ridge Parkway until I got to 276 where the skies cleared up.

Thanks again for meeting up with us and for waiting for my late butt !

daender > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 18:00

From a fellow Columbia Miata owner who was in Gatlinburg/Blue Ridge Parkway:

Kinja'd!!!

Yeah, it was...surreal entering a winter wonderland on 5-year old (3 of those years in storage) 4/32nd-tread Toyo R1Rs!

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > 412GTI
03/31/2019 at 18:01

It does great, just keep the revs up for responsiveness. It was interesting comparing this time with previous visits. My new rear sway bar really has it turning nicely at limit. I would like to see how it would do with traction control turned off, but I’m not willing to risk it in that location.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
03/31/2019 at 18:07

Eh, not really. It was mostly the dealer’s fault.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > daender
03/31/2019 at 18:35

Seems like too much extra capacity for a common-place weather event. It looked like they might be doing work at the marina at the eastern end near where 28 meets 19, but I didn’t get a good look.

Thanks for instigating the meet-up.

412GTI > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 18:35

Nice! Adding a sway bar seems like one of the go to first mods on this platform, I’ll have to look into it some more.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > 412GTI
03/31/2019 at 18:54

Definitely worth it, I’m glad that I replaced my first attempt (22mm solid) with the current one (25mm hollow). I know talented drivers that preferred the 22mm solid upgrade, but for me I needed it to be stiffer to match my limited-talent style.

First modification should be tires, though.

I’m so happy with my Pilot Sport A/S 3+ as compared to the stock tires - they aren’t as sticky as my autocross tires, but they do very well in hard cornering.

412GTI > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 18:58

Thanks for the info! I hate the stock tires but mine aren’t completely worn yet so they’ll be sticking around for a little longer.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > 412GTI
03/31/2019 at 19:01

Go thrash it at the Tail of the Dragon and help quicken their demise.

arl > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
03/31/2019 at 19:30

Nice write up. I have to drive the dragon one of these days.

Tristan > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
04/01/2019 at 00:06

Nearly every year from 2007-2014 I told myself I’d detour to the TotD on one of my trips between Florida and Minnesota... Never did and I completely regret it now that I couldn’t live much further away in the CONUS.