Exploring on the Honda XR150L: Buzzard's Roost - PART 1

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PART 1 OF 3:
BUZZARD'S ROOST

In August, Tyler made a quick run up to Asheville with his fiancé, Alicia, to nail down some final details before the wedding in October. Alicia was going to be occupied for a few hours which gave Tyler and I the perfect opportunity to get some riding in. Because we were low on time, we opted to load our bikes into the back of Tyler's Toyota Tacoma and drove out to Harmon Den.

We parked at the Harmon Den parking area with the intentions of riding a 75-mile route that would wind its way up to Buzzard's Roost, into Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and then along I-40, before reaching our final and most important destination: Hurricane Creek Road.

The ride to Buzzard's Roost was fairly straight forward, besides the switchbacks and twists along the way. After crossing the Pigeon River we rode gravel for a minute or two until the first switchback presented an alternate adventure. A rough dirt path presented itself and led us to what's marked on the map as "Dual Sport Camp" - a beautiful little camping area next to a slow-moving part of the river. We took some photos here before turning back around and continuing our adventure.

Within a few miles of twisty roads we were at our target, Buzzard's Roost. The only indication that you are there is a small Adventure Riders of North Carolina tag on the tree. We parked our bikes and walked down the steep trail to the overlook. It was wild. You really don't realize how high the elevation is until you're standing at the edge of a cliff looking down on the highway you arrived on. We snapped some more photos of each other before hiking back out and hopping onto the bikes.

This is where things got interesting. I think both Tyler and myself assumed this part would be boring and we would just be cruising into GSMNP with realtive ease. However, as we made a left onto FS 287, the road gradually got worse. It became steeper, more muddy, and obviously less traveled. At one point Tyler slid sideways. I did my best to follow him, but found myself stuck near the top of the mountain with my motorcycle stalled. Tyler thought it was running rich, but we were able to get tit revived and carried on with our adventure. We came down some steep and technical trail and onto Old Cataloochee Turnpike in GSMNP. We took a moment to reconvene before heading down the road.

To be continued....
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