DSCC Tail of the Dragon Tours
 

I have checked with the Fontana Lodge Resort and some cobra members have registered. The lodge is rather large, but at this time all the standard rooms are fully booked for the two days-Sept 3rd and 4th. They do have 33 cabins left, so if you are planning on going to this event, please reserve your rooms immediately. The phone numbers are 828-498-2211 and 828-498-2107.

The attached itinerary details information regarding meeting and the driving tours. I would appreciate a return email to let me know if you want to caravan up to Fontana from canton on the morning of Sept.3rd.
There is a much more detailed description of each drive which will be handed out at the lodge.
If anyone has questions please call me at 770-330-1515 or reply to this email.

Thank you,
DSCC
Tail of the Dragon event coordinator

Ed Gollob

Attachment:
Tail of the Dragon Tours

Sept 3rd & 4th 2009 ( Thursday & Friday )

PLEASE PRINT THIS ITINERARY

• Members will either be driving their Cobras or trailering.
• Members will either caravan up to Fontana with me from Canton, GA on Thursday morning OR meet at Fontana Lodge which will be our headquarters for all the events.
• If you are going to stay the night of Sept 2nd. In Canton I have trailer parking at my business if you need same. We can move trailers at 6PM Tuesday Sept 2nd. The location is only ¼ mile from the Comfort Inn.
• The hotel I recommend is the Comfort Inn at exit #20 off I-575 in Canton, GA. Their phone number is 770-345-1994
• We will start the caravan Thursday at 8:30AM sharp in front of the Comfort Inn.
• We will arrive at Fontana Lodge about 11:30AM ( includes 1 pit stop & 1 fuel stop in Robbinsville )
• There should be adequate parking in front of the Fontana Lodge lobby.

All events will start from the lodge parking lot
I will distribute hand outs with directions and maps for all the rides at 1PM.

• Tour #1
Our 1st trip is scheduled to start at 1PM Thursday and is The Tail of the Dragon. This is the only ride scheduled for Thursday. We will travel to Deals Gap where we can take a break, visit the motorcycle & souvenir shop and photograph the tree of shame. Bring your camera for all the trips. Then we slay the dragon in both directions. Meet back at the lodge.

Friday Sept 4th is your choice of rides. A team leader will be nominated for some of the shorter trips.

• Tour #2 is a brief side trip to Fontana Dam & visitor center and can be completed any time without a guide.
• Tour #3 Starts at 9AM. This is a scenic loop ride to Robbinsville NC and back. The trip takes us to Deals Gap and then turns to follow the river coming from Fontana dam and passes by Santeetlah Lake on route to Robbinsville. Taking a different route back we should arrive at the lodge in time for lunch.

Note we are now going to Tour #5 and then discuss Tour #4

• Tour #5 Starts at 1PM. This is a very scenic trip through the Nantahala River Gorge.There will be rafting busses and possibly Kayaks crossing the highway. If there is not too much traffic we can stop and view rafters navigating the rapids. Taking a different path back we should return to the lodge in time to socialize and have a drink before dinner.

• Tour #4 Starts at 8:30 AM. This trip will take most of the day. We call it the Cherohala Skyway Drive. We actually do the dragon again on route to Pumpkin Center and on to the Tellico Plains. Along this stretch we will stop for lunch. Then we do the Cherohala Skyway with it’s may scenic overlooks. We will stop a few times and take in the scenery. We travel through Robbinsville on route back to the lodge. We should have time to relax before dinner.

The trip is planned for Thursday and Friday as the area gets very busy on weekends ( especially this labor day weekend ). If anyone has questions please email me at edgollob@windstream.net or call my cell 770-330-1515.

Ed Gollob

Was just down in that area looking for some retirement space--beautiful scenery
going back down first week of Aug and doing the dragon from the north end--can't decide whether to take Robins Trail Blazer again or use the F350 crew cab and take Kayaks with us---anyway there both blue( approved color?)
Hundreds of motorcycles and 99.44/100 % were pretty quiet---no loud pipes!!!
seems guys(and gals) don't want to ride hundreds of miles to do the dragon with a loud companion!!!!

Jerry

Buy the videos at the Daels Gap store and there food is very good!!!

At the base of the hill, at Fontana dam, there is also a camp ground, for any of you guys thinking about taking a motor home and trailer.
This truly is a great part of the world.

Thanks Dan, looks like a little more enjoyable in a decent handling car. Last time I did it was in an F250 with a 30ft travel trailer in tow. (totally by accident)

The wife and I stayed in a really nice resort for a week in Banner Elk NC last year and she did most of the driving in the mountains because we took her Chevrolet Monte Carlo. After a few miles of mountain driving and going straight up at such steep angles that you could not see the road as it dropped off the other side, she began to leave her finer prints imbedded in her steering wheel. The worst for her came when in the other lane coming toward us was a Semi-truck trying to pass, and since the wife had been driving mainly down the middle of these narrow rode’s she didn’t really look at that narrow of a rode as a two way, especially with the 3,000 foot drop over the edge without any guardrails in sight. After the trucks passing it cut our driving for that day short as we had to go back to the resort so she could change into some clean shorts.