Took off Wednesday morning on a solo getaway. First pictures are from Fontana Dam and Lake.
Construction of Fontana Dam began in 1942 and was completed in 1944.
Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric facility. It has three generating units with a summer net dependable capacity of 304 megawatts. Net dependable capacity is the amount of power a dam can produce on an average day, minus the electricity used by the dam itself.
The dam is 480 feet high and stretches 2,365 feet across the Little Tennessee River.
Fontana Reservoir provides 238 miles of shoreline and 10,230 acres of water surface for recreation activities.
In a year with normal rainfall, the water level in Fontana Reservoir varies about 56 feet from summer to winter to provide seasonal flood storage.
Fontana was built during World War II to provide electric power for the war effort. A new town, housing some 5,000 people who worked around the clock in three shifts, sprang up in the forest, and the project broke construction records.
The Appalachian Trail, which extends over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, crosses Fontana Dam. The hot showers available at the trail shelter, maintained by TVA, have led grateful hikers to dub it the Fontana Hilton. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park borders the reservoir to the north.
Dry Falls flows on the Cullasaja River through the Nantahala National Forest. It is part of a series of waterfalls on an 8.7-mile stretch of the river that eventually ends with Cullasaja Falls. Dry Falls flows over an overhanging bluff that allows visitors to walk up under the falls and remain relatively dry when the waterflow is low, hence its name. Visitors will get wet if the waterflow is high.
Bridal Veil Falls is a 45-foot waterfall located in the Nantahala National Forest, northwest of Highlands, North Carolina. With a short curve of roadway located behind the falls, it had the distinction of being the only waterfall in the state that one could drive a vehicle under, however this has since been closed and is now used for pedestrian access only. Story I heard was during heavy rainfall a drowned tree came over the falls and hit a car. That's when they blocked it off from driving under it.
Spent the night in Clayton , Georgia I'm guessing that over the years I've stayed at this motel 15 / 20 times on motorcycle trips. It's showing it's age and if Haji don't throw some money at it soon it's going to be a America's Best or Travel Inn cause that's what the Haji's do they get money hungry and don't care after stuffing their pockets.
Took my " Money Shot " on The Foothills Parkway. It was a good trip I needed some ME time.
