Riding a motorcycle across the state of North Carolina is surprisingly rewarding
This is my entire log for the Murphy to Manteo challenge. On the geocaching.com website I had to break this up since it is way too long. This report doesn’t focus on the ride solely as it also incorporates the geocaching aspect.
It’s cliche to say, but that won’t stop me from saying it. What an amazing adventure. Actually, “amazing”, is the only one word I can use to describe my trip. If I had to break down the word “awesome” into other adjectives they would include the folowing pairs: scenic/boring, twisty/straight, mountainous/flat, touristy/humdrum. All of these word pairs demonstrate things everyone will experience while driving across this beautiful state. The only pair of words that I left off the list from my experience are: wet/dry. You may not experience this pair, but I certainly did.
When I saw that SmithyP had published this cache I was very excited. I knew I had some vacation days to burn (use or lose). I knew I wanted to put some miles on the motorcycle. I knew I wanted to knock a few pages and counties off my challenge list. Combine those items with my love of touring and I knew I would complete this cache at some point. When was the question.
I finally managed to knock some time out of my schedule and get work to approve leave (using my last two days of vacation on the last two days of eligibility). I had a date set, now I just needed to get a few other things in order. The bike needed an oil change and a new rear tire, I needed to figure out which pages and counties I was missing, and I needed to stop looking at the weather and using it as an excuse to not do it. As of Sunday morning all of these items had been complete and I was off on my epic adventure of the year. Sadly, I’ll probably only get one this year so I had to make it memorable. Making this memorable wasn’t too hard since I had to put the rain gear on before I even left the garage. Oh well, such is the life of a motorcyclist.
I left my house in north Charlotte about 11:30 surrounded by Snoop Dogs favorite weather (Drizzle….fo’ shizzle) I decided to stop in and put my name on the log knowing that come hell or high water (high water seemed likely) I was going to complete this challenge the next day. I meandered my way to the cache parking and tromped my way through the mud to GZ and opened the log book. Strange….two names on the log sheet and no logs online. Immediately I figured I had been duped. No worries though as this was not about getting the FTF (which would have been nice) – it was about touring. I added my name to the book and contemplated leaving my trade item, but saw that the cache was already full of them so I decided to keep it for myself, took a stupid photo, and set off for Murphy.
The trip to Murphy
The rain picked up on my short walk back to the bike so I decided to put on the full regalia of rain gear. Like a knight going into battle I suited up, excited to try out the new boot covers, and hit the highway. Here’s a little secret about motorcycling in the rain. It’s not that bad. Drivers of cars that pass look of either sadness for you or of shock that you are Riding the Storm Out. But once you get over the fact that no matter how good your gear you are going to get wet you can continue relatively unimpeded.
The interstate ride to, and through, Asheville was uneventful as it was gray. Mile after mile of rain pelting my mask, soaking my gloves, and pooling in my crotchal area. I approached the turn off where I would decide if I wanted to take a slightly smaller backroad or continue on the highway – I opted for the backroad. Driving over Lake Junaluska, through Maggie Valley, across an entrance to the BRP and down the mountain into Cherokee I smiled thinking how much I usually love these roads, but with the rain they bring on another set of challenges. Still wanting to push the limits of myself and the bike I sped up through the corners and gained confidence in my new tire.
After passing through the casino-town in the mountains I found myself back on the highway for my last 60 miles. I stopped for a drink and a chance to stretch my legs before heading into one of the most beautiful stretches of North Carolina highways – The Nantahala gorge. This 25 miles (or so) stretch of road offers something for almost everyone. Scenic views, technical motorcycling challenges, slow moving vehicles, geocaches galore, and on a day nicer than the one I had….ladies in bikinis floating down the river. What more could a person want? Oh yeah….dry road with absolutely no traffic. Something else I would not get on this day. None the less I raced, as much as traffic and my nerves would allow, around corners seeing mountain runoff waterfalls flash out of the corner of my eyes and when the road straightened out I marveled in the rapids of the overflowing river to my side. It truly is something everyone should experience on a motorcycle.
About 4:30 PM I pulled into the cheap hotel I booked earlier in the day and settled in. Casually I checked the weather -Rain in Murphy all day. Rain in Manteo all day. One could surmise that every town, burgh, hollow, and ‘ville in between had a similar projected fate. I gnawed on my Pizza Hut delivery (not many other choices here when you don’t wanna go back out in the rain) and played a game of dry the gear/clothes on the hotel heater. Always fun.
I fell asleep with a little dread, but still happier than I would be if I had to go to work the next day. Maybe this says something about my job….
Murphy-To-Manteo
The day had arrived. I woke before my alarm at about 5:30 and poked my head outside. No rain!. No rain!! Excitedly I packed up most of my stuff and took off towards my Murphy targeted cache – The Lost Fort – an easy virtual with some interesting history. After reading the signs by the light of my phone and taking the obligatory picture I stopped for coffee, went back to grab the rest of my (now dry) gear and checkout. I was on the (dry) road by 6:30, with an E.T.A in Manteo of about 3:30 (yeah right!!), watching the sun burn through the fog of the smoky mountains. What a beautiful sight. Given the rain the previous day, the forecasts I saw the night before, and the fear mongering weather forecasts on the radio in the morning I knew I had to appreciate the beauty while I had it. I turned off the radio and listened to the sound of my engine accelerate and decelerate as my pegs carved long smooth arches in the pavement. Back through the gorge, over the mountain away from Cherokee, and past Lake Junaluska the first hour and a half of my day was awesome. I wished I could ride roads like this all day and not the super-slab that I needed to do to accomplish all of my goals.
The ride east through Asheville out of the mountains was amazing. A crisp spring morning with enough hope of staying dry that the smile on my face grew even larger with each sweeper. That isn’t to say that there “Wasn’t a cloud in the sky” though. There were plenty. Dark clouds straight ahead reminded me how much I should appreciate the current weather and the little voice in the back of my head told me not to worry about the future….just enjoy the present. I did.
Miles and time flew by as the curves and altitude of the morning gave way to the straight flat nothingness of NC piedmont interstate. With nothing to do but listen to music and highway for the next few hundred miles I decided to stop for gas (an unplanned cache right there!), a drink, and lean back. With my legs stretched out and my feet keeping rhythm on the highway pegs I soon found myself approaching dark, ominous clouds. I felt my first few drops of rain for the day as I passed through Raleigh. Faced with a tough decision: Put on the gear and ride hot and stuffy, or leave the gear off until I need it and get a little wet; I opt for the latter and push on. With rain drops stinging my face I flip down my facemask, clench my teeth, and race through the drops hoping to get to the clear(er) skies I can see ahead. After about fourty-five minutes of constantly rethinking my decision to gamble and not put on the gear I get rewarded with dry roads, colorless white (at least it wasn’t dark) sky, and the first of my needed county caches in about 15 miles. Things really do work out for me. (my motto on life by the way)
I hop off the bike and grab what will be the first of 13 caches I needed to clear pages/counties off those challenges. I didn’t need all of them as I built some redundancy into my planning, but it was fun to get a few caches in a different area. Looking back, part of me wishes I had taken the time to find some “better” caches to grab (no offense to the hiders) but in reality I had miles to cover and as much as this was a caching trip it was also a motorcycle adventure. Most of the adventure of motorcycling comes from riding the motorcycle. This is my excuse for why I picked some of the easiest, most mundane, closest to the highway cache-and-dashes I could find.
As time wore on the land got tilted towards the sea eventually flattening out I found myself surrounded by the ever present swamps of the eastern part of NC. Signs warning of wildlife crossing that are not present anywhere I’ve lived amused me but also heightened my senses to my surroundings. Thankfully, unlike the previous finders, I only had one encounter with wildlife when a fox of some sort darted across the road a good distance in front of me. After crossing bridges that spanned miles and humped liked a camel in the middle I ended up on Roanoke island with a sign reading “Welcome to Manteo” suspended from a light pole at the side of the rode. I pulled the bike to the side, put on the flashers, and took a picture as proof of my conquest. Even though I had only stopped for a minute I realized that I had become “that guy” and blocked traffic on the major road heading north. After a quick conversation with a local LEO i was on my way to grab my second and third caches on the tiny island. Twelve hours after I left my hotel I had accomplished my goal. Now to find a place to rest my head.
After Manteo – Now what
I found myself sitting at a hardware store in Manteo checking for hotels. This is something I halfheartedly did prior to leaving and I knew what I was going to have to do. I made the call and set course for Elizabeth City – but first one more cache to clear one more page. That pesky “top-right” page on the one version of the Delormme challenge. Another 75 miles and I’ll be done for the day. Not sure if that made me happy or sad though.
I grabbed one last fun cache, turned my back to the ocean, and headed inland while inwardly reminiscing on a great day. I stayed dry. Found every cache (and more) that I had planned on. I accomplished the Murphy-to-Manteo challenge. I saw a lot of this beautiful state. I traveled a comfortable 630(ish) miles on the motorcycle – helping to approach my goal of 5k travel bug miles on it this year. I smiled.
As the mileage to the hotel get lower I saw the sky fade from white, to orange, to a fiery red before becoming a spectacular purple/black gradient. I arrived at my hotel about 8:00, walked to the 7-11 next door to get my first sustenance since the stale muffin I had at the hotel in the morning and walked back to my room. Sitting outside on the steps smiling I talked to a few friends and tried to (in 140 characters or less) describe what an awesome adventure I just had.
Heading Home
Not to prolong this read any longer, guessing very few people have made it this far, but the way back to Charlotte from Elizabeth City may have been my favorite day of the trip. It was relaxed, scenic, filled with awesome side roads that meandered through the north eastern NC county side while giving me plenty of photo opportunites. I finally saw a lot of places that I’ve been putting off for way too long. Like the womans legs in Henderson NC. The Rock garden of America. Old dilipated barns and houses (a personal favorite), and countless tiny roadside cemeteries I’d love to know the history of. Many of these places were stumbled across while others were deliberately planned using websites like RoadsideAmerica.com and Roadtrippers.com. I’m extremely grateful that I had the time to do this.
While the other pair that did this made mention that this is great when done with multiple people, I’d also challenge people to get out and do it solo. When you do a trip like this alone you get a lot of freedom. If you want to turn around and take a picture you can without worry of boring someone else. You can eat what and when you want. (Or in my case not at all. I don’t eat when I ride. I just wanna go) You can take that last second turn down a road that looks interesting without people sliding all over the car. You are alone with your own thoughts. Which can be scary at times, but it can also be exhilarating and introspective. You may find you have some great ideas rolling around in your head or that you are an amazing singer at 80 miles an hour on an interstate. No matter what don’t put off doing this, or anything else because you want someone to go with you.
I once read a great line that I thought of many times on this trip. “Many people will spend 8 or more hours sitting in a cubicle, but when it comes to spending that much time in a car or on a motorcycle they think of it as crazy.” Why is that? Get out and live!!
Summary
- 35 (or so caches – still have to count / log)
- 12 new counties
- 6 new pages
- 1263 road miles
- XXX Miles on the Motorcycle TB
- 23 hours in the saddle
- Murphy Cache: The Lost Fort
- Manteo Cache: OBX Hardware Heaven