Devil's Triangle and Little Vols Diner

My brother and I do an annual "Bro Ride" which you can see if you look at my other posts.  We decided to go back to Deal's Gap this year and hit some highlights that we missed the last time we went to that area.  One of the rides my brother wanted to do was the Devil's Triangle.   He said it had some challenging switchbacks and was enthusiastic about it.  I, on the other hand, was not so sure.  If it has "devil" in the name I'm thinking it has to be bad, maybe "badder" than what I can handle.  I read up on it and the word "challenging" kept jumping out at me, translate that "beyond my proficiency."  I read a bunch of articles and watched some videos and I was willing to ride this triangle from a bad place, if push came to shove, but I wasn't going to jump up and down and beg to go.
After riding the Dragon twice, the Parkway, the Skyway, and a bunch of other curvy roads day after day we headed for home, and the thought of going to the Devil's Triangle had gone way down on our list of priorities.  Lightning forced us off the slab at Rocky Top, Tennessee and we stayed at The Blue Haven, just our, um, kind of place. 
Where to eat breakfast?  We got a recommendation to go to Little Vols Diner.  Granted, from the road it would be very easy to miss, but we were looking for it.  When we saw how small the diner was we had our doubts, but, hey, good things come in small packages.  We sat at the counter and the fun began. The waitress was quick, helpful, witty and fun.  The cook was proficient, judging by the taste of my breakfast, but while the breakfast was excellent, and the décor was rabidly in favor of Tennessee with a great bit capital T, that's not the story.
The waitress started in on us telling us that we ought to do the Devil's Triangle because we were practically right in it.  She had been on the Triangle the day before.  Then the cook came out and chimed in because he is a rider and he told us we had to go for it.
They talked us in to probably the best ride of the trip.  It ended up being a motorcycle proficiency test for me.  It had rained the night before so we had some wet pavement.  The leaves were falling so we had some wet leaves on some of the curves.  There were three or so places with gravel on the pavement that had come from some driveways.  Two of the switchbacks were just plain mean-spirited, in my opinion, but there was a church on one switchback so little old ladies probably drive that switchback every Sunday.  What am I complaining about?  The first two switchbacks kicked my butt but I didn't lay anything down and eventually I got the hang of them so I gave myself a D-.
What I liked the best was while you're riding this challenging road you are treated to a look at southern life.  At one point the road zigzagged between a row of telephone poles (my favorite part), and later a black dog stood in the middle of the road and watched us approach.
Some of the articles I read advised starting at the Brush Mountain State Pen.  I say, "No way."  Start at Little Vols.  Get a great breakfast or lunch at Little Vols and go for one of the best rides in Tennessee. 

Bro Ride 2017

Another successful Bro Ride is on the books and this one served to be just as cool as the others except we saw more wildlife--not wild life.  We took another trip to the Tail of the Dragon and Deal's Gap but we threw in the Cherohala Skyway, the Fugitive Dam, Gatlinburg, Blue Ride Parkway, Foothills Parkway, Cherokee, Tellico Plains, Bald River Falls, Devil's Triangle, and Cumberland Falls.  We saw a monster elk with his harem of 30 or so females, deer, wild turkey, and wild hogs but we didn't see Bigfoot.
Staying in old rundown motels is always a fun part of how we travel.  Yes, we could stay at nice places but crummy motels make for better stories.  We want to stay in the old style travel lodges where they let us put our bikes under the awning. 
On the way down we stayed at the Alcoa Inn which is right across the road from the airport in Alcoa, Tennessee.  You haven't lived until you have airplanes landing right over your head in the middle of the night,  We only found one bug so that wasn't too bad.  We spent the next night in the historic Tapoco Lodge, which was way nicer than where we usually spend the night.  Tapoco is an excellent place to stay, and the setting is gorgeous, but make reservations ahead of time.  We were lucky to get one of their last rooms.    
On the way back home a lightning storm chased us off the slab at Rocky Top, Tennessee.  We pulled in the first place we saw which was The Blue Haven.  We were told by locals that that is where the methheads live because it is so cheap but we didn't have any problems and the people we met were friendly. The décor was hilarious but I'm sure it looked good to whoever picked it out. It was cheap and there were no bedbugs which is what matters to us.
I recommend the Beach Burger at Tellico Beach in Tellico Plains but the best restaurant we ate at was Little Vols in Rocky Top.  Little Vols deserves a post all by itself because of the restaurant, the food, and the friendly people. 
This may be my last trip to Deal's Gap because there are so many good places to ride in the U.S. but this was a memorable 4 day, 1400 mile trip.  Next post will be about the Devil's Triangle and Little Vols.  Now enjoy some pics.