Official date has been set for May 24th - 28th. That is Wed. through Sunday.

Sometime in May of 2006 (week to be determined later) I am putting together a drive out to the Dragons Tail and the Cherohala Skyway at Deal's Gap. This ia a mountain pass along the TN and NC borders. It's a stretch of road that is 11 miles long and has 318 corners!



Knoxville is nearby for hotels. I was thinking about driving out there on a Wed. and Thurs. Driving the mountain roads Fri. and Sat., then driving back Saturday and Sunday. That way you only need to request Wed - Friday off.

Here are some more pics and maps.

NC end of the road...


TN end of the road.....


Elevation profile of the Dragon's Tail...


Here is a map of the whole area, pointing out the Dragon's Tail and the Cherohala Skyway....


And lastly, Radar and Law Enforcement coverage of said roads.....




What do you guys think? I want to round up as many Scions for this as possible.

 

Sounds like fun!

 

Could be very cool...and no one can say that they didn't get fair warning. Are the MNSC guys doing it again this year?

 

The MNSC guys didn't do it last year. The 3 months warrning I gave them wasn't enough for half of them and it was too far of a drive for the other half.

This year I say screw it, I'm just setting this up for the Scion guys and gals. So lets get the buzz going about this. I want there to be a huge caravan od Scions headed out to the mountains in May.

 

So who is interested?

I want people who are interested in this to give me as much advance notice as possible.

Please let me know who is in. Based on interest I may do a Poker Run with prizes when we get there. If I did this there would be a small fee ($5 or so) to do it to help pay for the prizes.

I would also like to know who will attend so I have a bargaining chip with local hotels.



If there is a car club to associate this to, I would say it is Scikotics, being I am a member.

 

Anyone?

 

Give me a shout if you are interested in doing this. I want to get an idea of who wants to go soon so I can bargain on hotel rooms and make other plans.

For example, if enough people want to go I would like to set up a Poker Run style drive through the mountains.

 

I might be it sounds fun but alot of driving

 

So what.

Those roads are in the top ten list of most scenic roads in the country.

 

how much money we lookinat here rough estimate would be apreciated

 

Rough idea on costs......

Minneapolis to Knoxville and back = 1900 miles
Driving the mountains = about 100 miles
2000 miles / about 30 mpg = 67 gal
67 gal x about $2.30 per gal = about $160 for gas

Hotel in Knoxville = about $60 per night about $120-180 for hotel

Food...
Fast food route = about $50 per person
Sit down restaraunt route about $100 per person

Now if we stop along the way instead of driving all the way out, add on another hotel room bill and another meal.

Just to be safe I would say if you went alone you would need $500

If you bring someone add their meals to that total.

 

wow -- math in every day life -- very good

 

as i said at the skicotics boards... i would love to try and do this... if i ca save up the money to go i will... but that will be pretty hard

 

You have 5 months. Can you save $75 to $100 a month for this?

 

ill try... with all the gift cards and stuff i got for christmas ill be spending less there aswell

 

Ok people, I updated the plans a little.

This trip will only require you to take Wed - Fri of one week off, we will be back by Sunday. I haven't chosen a weekend yet though because nobody has expressed enough interest in this.

Just imagine exploring some of the twistiest, most scenic roads in the country! I drove through there with my parents once when I was little and it was beautiful.

I did some rough math a few posts up. It will cost about $500 for the driver and that for gas, lodging, and food. Each additional passenger would only add the price of food to that. Plus if you take passengers with you, then you can split up the costs of the gas and lodging.

Another way to save some money......

If only a few cars are REALLY interested in this, I might even be able to cut out some of the lodging fees. I have relatives near those roads and if there aren't many people going I might be able to get them to let us stay there once we get into TN.

Please, I really want to cruise these roads in my new xB, but I want to do it in a group of Scions. Sign up and lets caravan out there and enjoy the scenery.

 

alright... ill say im down... i still needa talk to my paretns about it... but i should be able to get the money by then... if i can control the spending on my car

 

Cool.

I'm gonna bring a video camera and my digital camera. I plan on taking pics and videos of the whole trip.

 

now you needa start spamming about this to get the word out

 

Yall, PLEASE start talking this up!! I have gotten some interest up to hook up when yall hit town. You can't be shown up by a bunch of southerners.....
ctruss is right, these are some of the most beautiful roads you will ever see. And really, you don't want to make this a speed run, I drove some roads in the area last weekend and 35 is just the right speed most of the time. Of course, you got to blow the cobwebs out ont the straights....but there aren't many!