Les Jones

Home Life > After the Camping Trip: the Dragon's Run and the Three Gorges Dam

The camping trip was great. The chartered boat whisked us to our campsite, and we enjoyed great weather, great good, and a little Nerf football. Lindy made me a cool duct tape wallet, which is one of hundreds of uses for that miracle fabric.

The boat charter went off without a hitch, and the pickup was right on time. The round trip cost is $40 for one person, but it's just $45 for two people, and for the seven of us it was just $24 each. The Fontana marina also rents boats - $45 a day for a John boat, $55 an hour for a $30,000 ski boat, or $295 a day for an excellent pontoon boat. The marina also services campsite 86/Hazel Creek. There's a self-registration stand next to the marina where you can get your free backcountry permits.

The drive took us through Highway 129, including the infamous stretch known as the Dragon's Run, which I mentioned in the Townsend traveller's guide. In 11 miles the road convulses through 318 sick turns that attract driving enthusiasts, and especially sport bikes. We got to see some great motorcycle riding, and a stream of Honda SR2000s that were touring the mountains. If you're prone to carsickness, take Dramamine. One of our intrepid travellers puked at around turn number 210.

Parts of the Robert Mitchum classic Thunder Road were filmed in these curves, as were other movies. The run goes from Chilhowee Lake in Tennessee to Deal's Gap in North Carolina. Deal's Gap is home to the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort, with a convenience store that stocks bike parts, a biker-friendly hotel, and a repair shop.

Coincidentally, the Knoxville News-Sentinel featured the Dragon's Run in the Sunday travel section in an article by Wayne Bledsoe. The print version shows a photo of the Tree of Shame, decorated with parts from bikes that were slain by the dragon. Bledsoe also mentions the Cherohola Challenge, a 115-mile bicycle route that goes through the Dragon's Run and the Cherohola Skyway.

We encountered a few bicyclists, including some at the Fontana Village restaurant who had already done about 60 miles. When we encountered a bicyclist on a turn in the Dragon's Run we damn near hit her. I mentioned to Jay that if there had been a car in the other lane there would have been nowhere to go but over the bicycle. Riding a bicycle on a 55 MPH route with that many blind turns is just another kind of suicide. The advantage, I guess, it that unlike other forms of suicide, it keeps its practicioners healthy, fit, and attractive right up until the fatal moment.

I've been a pedestrian, a bicyclist, a hiker, a horseback rider, and a car driver, and I have a firm opinion: different modes of transportation don't mix. That's why sidewalks are good, bike lanes are good, and designated horse trails are good. Separating different modes of transportation into separate traffic reduces conflict and the potential for injury.

Highway 129 passes a series of dams: Chilhowee, Calderwood, and Fontana. They're impressive dams, but the biggest dam on Earth has just started filling up. More on that later.