Summer of 19 - #15 -Road to Nowhere, Fontana Dam & Nantahala Gorge

Saturday August 31st, 2019
It was our first weekend at Grumpy Bear and we had been told the campground would be full, and it was.  Our river view disappeared behind the campers, as they gradually all moved in.  It's a holiday weekend so was to be expected.  Surprisingly it wasn't too noisy, and we heard nothing after we went to bed.
Sunday September 1st, 2019
This morning we woke up to mist over the mountains.  I took a picture to show how we couldn't see the mountain.

In a couple of hours though it had cleared and the mountains were back.  This seems to be a pattern of mornings here, although some mornings we get up late and miss the mist. 😀

Someone came and delivered tubes to some of the tent campers.

Monday September 2nd, 2019

We decided to go to Lakeview Drive, which is very close to the campground and also known as the Road to Nowhere.  During WWII, a hydroelectric dam was built at Fontana.  1,300 families were left homeless as their homes were either bought or repossessed, with little or no compensation.  In order to appease these people the government promised two things.  

The first was to reimburse the county for the loss of Highway 288 which would be flooded, and the second to build a road around the park to give access to 28 cemeteries that were isolated when the land was flooded.

It took nearly 25 years to build six miles of the road, a bridge and a tunnel, by the end of 1969.  The remaining 26 miles have never been finished.  Hence the "Road to Nowhere".

in 2000, funding was secured to continue the project, but it remains to be seen if it will ever be completed.

In the meantime, the National Park Service has annual decoration days where it shuttles people across the Lake as close to the cemeteries as possible, in order for them to visit the graves.

Lake View Drive alias "The Road to Nowhere"

The Road to Nowhere was very scenic and beautiful.

Awesome views

This was as far as we could go in the car.  It was the end of the "Road to Nowhere"

We walked up to the tunnel

Going in!!!!

Graffiti is painted throughout and it brightens the place up!!  It looks as though they have painted over it frequently, and the graffiti has appeared again.

We took our flashlights as we had read that the middle of the tunnel was dark, and if you didn't want to step in horse poop it was best to have a light.  We didn't encounter any type of poop, thank goodness.

My shadow is kind of eerie!!!

We reached the other end of the tunnel

Graffiti at the end of the tunnel

Bryan climbed onto the top of the tunnel.  Can you see him up there?

I stayed at the bottom

This is one of the webs I talked about in a prior blog.  You can see the caterpillar cocoons that have formed in the web that was built to protect them.

We drove back through the small town of Bryson City.  It's a really pretty town and they had their flags out in celebration of Labor Day.

We headed on to Fontana Dam.  Again, it was a beautiful drive and we stopped at an overlook to see Fontana Lake.

Can you see the white boat docked?

We continued on to Fontana Dam.

Fontana Lake, taken from the Dam.

Looking down from the top of the dam

Little Tennessee River

Looking through the sluice gate at Fontana Lake

Water release tunnel

There was a small display of history relating to the area and dam.  The dam was constructed during WWII, and when finished in 1945 it supplied massive amounts of electric power to make metal at a local aluminum plant.  This metal helped create more than 50,000 new military aircraft.  The war ended on September 2nd, 1945 and these planes were among those used to help secure the allies victory.

The Appalachian Trail crosses the Dam and there are hot showers provided here for the hikers on the trail.  This shelter is affectionately known by the hikers as the Fontana Hilton. It is cleaner and better than a lot of the shelters on the trail.  The trail is 2,192 miles long and goes through 14 states.  You have to be a serious hiker to do that.  Some do it in stages, returning at different times and years, to complete another section and some just do it all at one time!!!!  Here's me struggling to do 3 miles!!!!  I feel such a failure!!!

We continued on our ride and decided to do a circular trip, rather than just return on the same road.  We went through the Fontana Village Resort and had to fill up on gas. This was a lot more expensive up here in the mountains, but you do what you have to do, and who knows when we will see another gas station.  No cell signal up here to find out anything!!!

We stopped at a kayak put in on the Cheoah River.  Again it was beautiful and we were the only ones there.

Fish waiting to be caught!!!

There's even RV parking here and nothing that says no overnight.

Tilly waiting patiently for us

We drove home through the Nantahala Gorge.

We didn't know it, but there had been a mudslide here 8 days before. They had done a great job of cleaning it up, although there were some areas still roped off.  I didn't get any pictures though.

I took these pictures of the invasive vine I mentioned in a prior blog, to show how it covers everything.  They must have to constantly trim it to stop it covering the road.

We got home safe and sound, although a little tired after such a long day, and a lot of driving.  I don't know how Bryan does it but he doesn't seem to mind.

Oh, and if we hadn't filled up with gas up in the mountains, we doubt we would have made it to the next gas station!!!!  Note to ourselves, fill up at the start of the journey.  Although I have to say Bryan is usually very good about that.

Well that's it for today.  Stay tuned for further adventures.