Rock Slides Out East

[Carlos]

Hope no one was seriously injured in the recent rock slides. Cathy and I were though "The Gorge" on I40 last spring. I sure wondered about that road then. Likely to not be reopened for months. Probably just in time for another visit by us in the spring. That Hwy 64 slide in Polk county on video is pretty impressive also.

 

[kilted1]

Carlos, the video seems to have slid off the screen :lol:

 

[Carlos]

I didn't link it. I assumed all have seen it. Hang on. I'll go get it.


http://www.wdef.com/work_crews_dodge_major_rock_slide_on_highway_64

 

[Carlos]

I cannot find one for the Gorge on I40. Cathy said this morning, that she hopes we never have to go though there ever again. She didn't like all those steep ups and downs.

 

[Anonymous]

They are saying that I40 is gonna be closed for awhile because of the slide. I had to go over to Hendersonville, NC last weekend for a funeral, and went the old highway through Hot Springs....a lot nicer and prettier drive than the interstate!

 

[Carlos]

In the news they are talking months. I was looking at the maps, and it looks like alternate routes will add hundreds of miles to any trip we make out east. If we stay in Gatlinburg, to get to Atlanta area, we will have to backtrack back to Knoxville and then south though Chattanooga.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, if you're staying in Gatlinburg, the best route to Atlanta would be to go to Knoxville and down I75. I can tell you several ways to get from Gatlinburg to Knoxville that are quicker than the interstate.

 

[kilted1]

Nope hadn't seen it ... WOW! :affraid:

 

[ftrplt]

I/we travel I-40 extensively going between Raleigh and OKC. Will have to find a new route when we return to OKC the first of the year! Bummer!!!! FTRPLT

 

[Anonymous]

They have traffic detoured via I26 to I81, which is a very long way around!

The shortest route to take is to get off the interstate in Ashville and on to the old Ashville highway (US 70) and go through Hot Springs NC and over the mountain to Newport, TN. You can pick up I40 in Newport and go along your merry way.

It's a lot shorter, but there is an old, narrow bridge on this highway that is not safe for tractor-trailer traffic...that's why the DOT is not detouring traffic on that route.

 

[ftrplt]

dt753....You're absolutely correct! My wife reminded me of this last night. We have gone that route on two occasions. Thanx for the reminder!!! FTRPLT

 

[puros_bran]

I'm wondering when yall will figure out theres two different rock slides being discussed here.

 

[puros_bran]

Ftr..

Just hop on 81, run it up to I-77s to US 52 S and wala right back out onto I-40.

OR Run 25/70 over the mountains... We did that back last time all that crap caved in.. It would be a blast on a scooter, maybe even in a car... sucked ass in a semi!

 

[Carlos]

Cathy didn't appreciate all the views of steep cliffs, rockwalls, the ups and downs. Not to mention the memorial markers where State Police and people have been killed on I40. So I really doubt that she would like any of the smaller two lane highways over the Great Smokies. And I really wanted to drive several of them in my lifetime.

 

[Ol'Dawg]

Probably the most difficult yet scenic is the southern route from Knoxville to Asheville via US 129, NC 28 and US 74. Everyone ought to drive on NC 28 (GA and SC state roads too) just to see how curvy a road can be.

Jim

 

[kilted1]

Probably the most difficult yet scenic is the southern route from Knoxville to Asheville via US 129, NC 28 and US 74. Everyone ought to drive on NC 28 (GA and SC state roads too) just to see how curvy a road can be.

Jim

129 going over Blood Mountain is pretty good. The drive up to the parking area at Brasstown Bald is that way, take a good look at the road and the road signs:

Believe it or not, we were driving up a very steep grade!

In The Bent Tree Community where I live there are several places where you literally cannot see the road surface past the hood of the pick up truck (because of a combination of gradient and curvature of the road) you have to keep driving and correct when you roll far enough to see the road surface again! One of those places is a 4 way stop intersection! Big Canoe has several roads like that in it as well.

 

[Al in Canada]

I cannot find one for the Gorge on I40. Cathy said this morning, that she hopes we never have to go though there ever again. She didn't like all those steep ups and downs.

Not like the winding roads climbing up the heights of Mount Pulaski ?

Take her for a vacation down to Kentucky, and you can take a day trip from Lexington to Harrodsburg, stopping for lunch in "Shakertown" and then on to Fort Harrod. Very scenic drive especially where the road approaches the Kentucky River. You have a rock wall on one side of the road and a drop off on the other, which allows you to see the scenery.

Mind you will have to take I 75 to Lexington, I asssume you remember a section of it sliding down a while back.

I saw a slide like the one in the original post on I75 down near the Tennessee border, while driving back from Florida. Happened just before we got their, had to spend the night in one of those old "motor court" style motels in some little Kentucky burg, while they tried to dig out the vehicles that were caught in the slide. Next morning they had a lane cleaned and off we went.

Guess Cathy is not a big roller coaster fan

Al (in Canada)

 

[Carlos]

Vinegar Hill, upon which Mt. Pulaski sits, ain't nothing but a pile of dirt and sand to most people. Elkhart hill is a wee bit bigger. When my niece and her husband visited, they arrived very early morning and it was still dark. He said that he was positive that he drove past one single cornfield in the dark that was at least 7 miles long. He had never seen such flat ground. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Probably the most difficult yet scenic is the southern route from Knoxville to Asheville via US 129, NC 28 and US 74. Everyone ought to drive on NC 28 (GA and SC state roads too) just to see how curvy a road can be.

Jim

Hwy. 129 across the mountain has got to be one of the worst roads anywhere. It's a beautiful drive, but the curves are killer. The hardest part is navigating your way through all the motorcycles crossing over into your lane :affraid:

As some of you know, I'm an antique car guy. My first old car was a 1954 DeSoto Powermaster (what a laugh...it wouldn't pull a greasy string out of a cat's ass) Club Coupe. I drove it across 129 into Franklin, NC and down into Dillard, GA. By the time I got back home, my arms felt like dead weights! I have never taken any of my old cars through there since (unless they had power steering :!

 

[bronxbill]

Hway 129 is known as the "Tail of the Dragon" among motorcyclists. It's a must ride, that's why you see so many motorcycles.