Mountains

The Blue Ridge Parkway pulls no punches!

 Right from the get go uphill. Two hours of intense grade, 2nd gear, and down to 1st at 8 MPH at some points, this is a steep bloody run. But the scenery is unbelievable, The Smoky mountains are more and more beautiful as I climb, until I climb up into the clouds and can see no more than a few hundred feet. Half a dozen gorgeous stone tunnels and I'm a mile above sea level! At 5000 feet my suction cup cell phone mount fell off the dash, not enough air pressure! then when I stopped for the night at a lookoff my milk jug was about to burst! Oddly, other than my ears popping I can't sense the altitude, but 5400 feet isn't really all that high. I'm writing this at the lookoff and it's dead silent, no wind, no traffic, no noise or light at all, even as I look out across the landscape that the sign says I should be able to see Virginia I see nothing, absolutely nothing. No noise, No light, No cell service. Neat,...