Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Two Lane Adventure to Ohio – Monday, May 13th 2019


We departed the KOA on Route 70 West. We planned on following this get back onto Route 25 and eventually it would intersect with Route 23.

We passed this painted fence, it really caught my eye. Artspace. I was figuring that is was some form out outdoor art. Wrong! ArtSpace Charter School is a K-8, tuition-free public charter school.  Since 2001, ArtSpace has delivered an innovative education to the children of Western North Carolina through the integration of the arts. Arts-Integrated education naturally harnesses the joy of discovery and creation to give students the skills they need for a rich and successful life. At the school, students’ academic lives are marked with the milestones of their own creation. Abstract concepts leave tangible results – artistic achievements, mastery of skills, lasting memories of proud performances – these educational artifacts testify to an exceptional culture. This culture creates exceptional human beings.

On Route 70, we traveled under a bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Oh, I loved the year we traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway. We will follow that route again, it affords so awesome views of the mountains and surrounding areas!

Route 70 is Tunnel Road, as we drove I could not figure out why it was called that. But at the end of it, or the beginning depending on your direction of travel. There is a tunnel. It is where Tunnel Road becomes College Street.

We skirted around Asheville NC along two lane roads with more tree canopies. Have I told you how much I love to travel on roads with foliage canopies over them? Well, I do!

All our roads have come together … US Routes 23, 25, 70 and 19. I love it when a plan from the atlas comes together. Everyone asks how we do these two lane adventures … just like that. Plot it out in the atlas and hope and pray that the roads you pick, take you where you want to go! Oh well, if they don’t … it is about the journey, not just the destination!

The best part about traveling in the late spring is the beautiful roadside flowers. They are just beautiful!

Looks like this will be our fate today … up and down, up and down! Oh, what a climb we have ahead of us!

But, at the top of every climb, we have beautiful views! I love to see the heart of America in these farms.

Sams Gap, at 3760 ft, is the pass in the Bald Mountains section of the Appalachian chain through which US Highway 23 winds across the North Carolina and Tennessee border. The old route, now known as Flag Pond Road, was an extremely dangerous route during winter with sharp turns and limited guard rails. The Appalachian Trail also runs along the state’s borders here. 

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a hiking trail more than 2,175 miles long from Maine to Georgia. It was conceived in 1921 and first completed in 1937. It’s used for everything from short walks, to day hikes and long-distance backpacking journeys, and offers spectacular scenery along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. On its way, the Trail passes through more than 75 different federal and state forests and other park lands.

Driving on US 23 the Cherokee National Forest surround you. It is the largest tract of public land in Tennessee and Tennessee's only National Forest. Land for the forest was first acquired in 1911. It initially also included lands in both North Carolina and Georgia, but in 1936 Cherokee National Forest and Unaka National Forest were reorganized along state lines. We traveled through the forest from North Carolina to here. At Erwin, Tennessee, the Rock Creek Recreation Area within the forest has a hike to two waterfalls. Nearby is the Erwin National Fish Hatchery. You’ll never see more fish than at a hatchery, they have been raising fish since 1894. There is a small visitor center with information on fish. Also on site is the Unicoi County Heritage Museum, which occupies the former hatchery superintendent’s residence.

As we drive through Erwin on US 23, we passed a bit of history. It is the former Clinchfield RR Depot, but now the county library. No trains stop here now, but, the tracks are still active. Along with the history of these hills, there are the modern conveniences too. There is a Wal-Mart Superstore in nearby Unicoi!

While driving through, we cross part of US 11. This route runs from the Canadian border at Rouses Point, New York to New Orleans, Louisiana, right down the spine of the Appalachian Mountains and it often runs near Interstate 81, but it has not been eliminated. It splits into US 11E and US 11W in Bristol, Virginia, less than a mile north of the Tennessee-Virginia state line, so we are only crossing US-11W at this time. We have traveled on US 11 before, verses traveling on the Interstate. Almost out of Tennessee, we move from rural forests to cities, like Johnson City and Kingsport, Tennessee is only 8 miles from Gate City Kentucky. We drove just over 60 miles in Tennessee!

Crossing the state line from Tennessee to Virginia, we are still on US 23. Here it is also known as Daniel Boone Heritage Trail. One of the nation's most historic routes, the trail was blazed by the legendary frontiersman in 1775 and has become the route for hundreds of thousands of settlers of the western frontier.

Moccasin Gap in the Clinch Mountains is one of two ground level water gaps leading from the western reaches of the Great Valley of Virginia into the interior of the Alleghenies. The Great Warriors path crossed through here and American settlers pouring through Moccasin Gap and into Kentucky violated a treaty with the Shawnee, which led to Lord Dunmore's War in 1774.

The Wilderness Trail intersects the Clinch River here and follows Stock Creek upstream. By 1789, John Wallen built a cabin at the mouth of Stock Creek - Chief Benge attacked it and was driven off after 3 of his Indian party were killed. Pictured is the Carter Cabin, an original dwelling that was home to the famous Carter Family – donated to the Wilderness Trail Association and rebuilt along the bank of Stock Creek near Natural Tunnel State Park.

In the 1880s the “natural tunnel” was declared the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and has long been attracting sightseers. Daniel Boone was among the first non-native Americans to see the tunnel. This 850-foot long tunnel was carved by water running underground through fault lines in the local limestone and only later did Stock Creek, which flows through it today, enter the cave. Other scenic features include a wide chasm between steep stone walls surrounded by several pinnacles, or "chimneys."

In Duffield, Virginia, at the intersection of State Route 871 and US 23, one picks up the major shortcut of the Wilderness Trail - the so-called "Devil's Race Path." As the wagons labored up a steep grade they were easy prey for thieves who lived there. This intersection is referred to as "Little Flat Lick" and named after a salt spring that oozed from the ground under the road. From here one can look at Powell Mountain and see a notch that is Kane Gap, the only significant section of the trail that has not been paved over.

In Virginia, US 23 is also part of The Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail. The trail winds through almost 300 miles of scenic terrain in southwest Virginia, including 19 counties, four cities, and 54 towns. The sounds of country music beat strong and pure in Virginia, especially in the Blue Ridge Highlands and Heart of Appalachia regions, connected by The Crooked Road. Day and night, the plaintive strains of the mountain ballads and toe-tapping, old-time dance music echo across this region's sharp ridges and deep valleys. Look for the sign along the Trail as you explore the musical soul of Virginia's country connections and experience a unique and unforgettable experience!

In Big Stone Gap, you can see one of these connections. The ‘Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama.’ It is the longest continually running outdoor drama in Virginia, and it is now the official Outdoor Drama of Virginia.  It provides an exciting entertaining and accurate accounting of the story made famous in the early 1900's by the noted author John Fox, Jr.  It depicts the effect that the discovery of coal in the Appalachian Mountains had on the people of this beautiful mountain region.

Route 23 is a busy road, not only because of the traffic! It also carries the designation of ‘Country Music Highway’ and the ‘Virginia Coal Scenic Byway.’ That makes a total of four designations for the same stretch of road in Virginia … yes, busy!

On US 23 at Horse Gap, in Pound Virginia, there is a mural, which depicts historic figures and times in the town. It is painted on a 50-by-15-foot wall remnant of the C&O trestle that once carried trains through the Pine Mountain Tunnel to the Meade Fork coal mine. The wall had stood at that gap for 66 years and remarkably had never seen graffiti or public damage. It was the ideal place to let travelers know they were near the historic and 'infamous' yet noble town called Pound. Historical elements featured on the wall include a coal train; tunnel; Meade Mine Tipple; Robinson Mill; U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers and plane; Napoleon Hill and his most famous motivational quotation: “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve”; Chant Kelly, founder of the town of Pound; and Glenn Roberts, innovator of the basketball jump shot.

At the border of Virginia and Kentucky on US 23, perched atop a knoll is the Kentucky Civil War Memorial. We would have stopped, but the drive was too steep for our rig and there were no parking on the shoulder signs.

It looked very interesting from below.

Y’all can’t tell by their distinguished town sign, but Pikesville Kentucky is home to the annual Hillbilly Festival. Y’all be sure to come and enjoy one of the state’s largest festivals, Hillbilly Days! Since 1977, Pike County has been celebrating Hillbilly Days. This nationally known annual event is a fundraiser to benefit the Shriners’ Children’s Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Held in downtown Pikeville Kentucky, as early as the 11th of April and as late as the 21st of April. This is one festival you’ve got to see to believe! Artists and craftspeople showcase their talents and sell their handiwork amidst mountain music, clogging, and square dancing. Men, women and youngsters pick and grin while trying to outdo each other with their wild hillbilly outfits. You could even enter the Possum Queen contest, come on … who would not want to be name Possum Queen?!

It also has the strange distinction of being part of the territory of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud. There is a driving tour of some of the sites where over 100 years ago these two families began to fight each other. Apparently over a stolen pig, though no one is sure. The tour takes you to ten or twelve sites where the feud took place, including the home and grave of Randolph McCoy.  

Just northeast of Van Lear is Butcher Hollow. This little valley was the birthplace of country music star Loretta Lynn, and is one of the reasons this part of US-23 is the Country Music Highway.

Something to consider as we drive through the hills and valleys is that this area was in the thick of Civil War fighting. As we approach Prestonburg, a few miles west of town is the Middle Creek National Battlefield. Here we can see where over a hundred years ago, on January 10, 1862 a battle was fought that ended Confederate supremacy in the region. It also launched the career of James A. Garfield, who became our twentieth president. The battle at Middle Creek took place just after the Battle of Ivy Creek, mentioned below, and some men fought in both. The Middle Creek valley provided excellent defensive positions for the Confederates, who were poorly armed and equipped. The Union, under Garfield, mounted a piecemeal attack which slowly forced the Confederates up the hill. As the fighting petered out at sundown, the Confederate Brigadier Gen. Humphrey Marshall retreated southward, knowing that food for his men and horses could be found near modern-day Hueysville. Garfield kept to the battlefield, buried the dead of both sides, and then withdrew to Prestonsburg, where he commandeered a house for his temporary headquarters.

In Louisa you can see the Big Sandy Power Plant. There used to be two cooling towers there, but now there is only one. The image of the tower no longer there changes the landscape of the view from the curved US 23 highway. Big Sandy was the first to incorporate this system into a natural-draft cooling tower in the Western Hemisphere when Unit 1 went online in 1963. Unit 2 cooling tower measured 395 feet in diameter at its based and reached 370 feet into the sky. Big Sandy’s Unit 2 went online in 1969 and was the first in a series of five 800 megawatt units installed on the AEP system in a four-year period. Unit 2 was retired in May 2015 to comply with new environmental regulations. Unit 2’s cooling tower, a closed cycle cooling system, used water from the Big Sandy River to cool 248,000 gallons of water a minute. By cooling the water, it could be re-circulated and discharged back into the river where it could disrupt the natural aquatic life. It took 500 pounds of explosives and turned the Unit 2 cooling tower into rubble in a matter of seven seconds. Big Sandy continues to use the Unit 1 cooling tower with the successful conversion from a coal-fired unit to a 280-megawatt, natural gas-burning unit in May 2016.

We arrived at the Ashland – Huntington KOA, our home for the night. It’s been rather a slow day of driving, as the old two-lane road of US 23 was not built for speed. Hope you enjoyed the scenery though as we wandered through mountains and small towns; I did.

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