Anticipating crowds on a perfect bluebird weather autumn day, we reached Grandfather Mountain shortly after 9am. All the touristy things were there, and since it'd been nearly 20 years since we took them in, we visited the museum, the wildlife habitats, and of course, the Mile High Swinging Bridge. My "heights averse" bride even went across and then out on the outcrop on the far side. A stiff NW wind made the upper 40s temp feel like the low 30s and had the bridge rocking, rolling, and producing a cacaphony of whistles, wheezes, and groans.

We had a look at the growing crowds as we descended and were greeted with lines along US 221 in both directions at the turn-in/ticket gate. Terry started backpedaling about Art in the Park over in Blowing Rock, citing crowds and parking hassles, so I offered a drive down to Mount Mitchell as an alternative. Having read Peter Thody's feature piece herein, I first called ahead to confirm all access was open, which it was. I then contemplated a +100 mile round-trip on the Parkway and figured it would be an all-day crawl, so Roan Mountain, TN jumped out of Page 32 of my DeLorme NC Atlas and Gazetteer. Remembering a special stretch of road not far from there, we exited the Linville area for Newland, US 19E, and the Tennessee line.

Turning west on TN 173 at Tiger Valley School, we passed over Victory Hill Gap and descended into Limestone Cove, near Erwin. A few miles south on TN 107 brought us to Red Fork Road, aka Unaka Mountain Road (UMR), a public road within the Cherokee National Forest. The UMR is gravel for most of its dozen miles traversed between TN 107 and Indian Grave Gap, where TN 395 and NC 197 meet at the state line. Along the way are the Unaka Mountain Overlook and the Beauty Spot. The Overlook has been rehabilitated in recent years to the extent of the short access road having been improved and the brush which had all but obscured the view having been cut way back. At an elevation just shy of the peak of Unaka Mountain (5,180'), the Overlook provides dramatic long-distance views to the east, west, and south. The Beauty Spot, about 2 miles farther down UMR, is a "bald" along the ridgeline of Unaka Mtn where the Appalachian Trail follows the TN-NC state line for a spell. Its views are nearly as nice as those from the Overlook.

The Unaka Mountain Road and the Overlook were reportedly built in the 1930s as Tennessee and North Carolina were competing for routing of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tennessee demonstrated presence of some wonderful scenery, but the route up and across the crest of Unaka Mountain was very steep and narrow, with many tight switchbacks, and the communities along the proposed route were deemed too small and isolated to support the expected tourism. As a result, the UMR is called the Wannnabe Parkway (OK, just by me) and remains an obscure, little known path--and a perfect destination for one with a high-clearance vehicle seeking to escape the crowds on the real Parkway. We encountered exactly two other vehicles between Limestone Cove and the Overlook, and no more than 7 or 8 more the rest of the way to Indian Grave Gap.

At the far end of the UMR, we dropped down to Poplar, NC on NC 197 and visited the put-in park where rafters and kayakers enter the Nolichucky River and its gorge chockablock full of rapids. Right on schedule, a converted school bus pulled up, brakes still smoking from the descent, with 3 large rafts strapped to the top, and group of around 20 set sail down the river. I was reminded of a phrase from my whitewater days: The Nolichucky is a Class IV river accessed by a Class VI bus ride.

Our intent was to circle back by Roan Mountain, a spot never visited by me despite decades of touring the region. Relying on my Gazetteer and a memorized road number sequence, I quickly missed a turn and ended up at Limestone Cove again, so we decided to forego Roan Mountain in favor of the late afternoon's brilliant sunshine on the deck and a spectacular sunset behind Beech Mountain.

For a day which started off with the anticipation of less adventurous and purely local travel, we ended up on a RoadTrip after all, and were very happy for the way it all worked out.

Foy