I headed out yesterday to finish up the Talimena Scenic. I could see rain coming from the south, but I was heading west, so figured I should be able to make it. There were some really fantastic overlooks along the way.
This was one of them. It was only 5 miles to the OK border, so I crossed over. The Talimena goes about 40 miles into OK, so I was planning to ride the length of it into OK. I got about 2o miles into OK and the temperature started to drop dramatically. The roads were wet so it had already rained there. I could smell the rain in the air, so I figured I'd turn around and head back to the lodge. I was only 20 miles into OK at that point. I'd dodged rain the entire trip so far and didn't want to get caught in a storm now. The road was in good condition, but there was no shoulder and places to pull off were far between. If I got caught in a downpour, it may be several miles before I could find a place to pull off and gear up.
The storm was pretty severe. I was really happy that I had opted for a room at the lodge rather than a campsite at the park. This was the view from the same spot this morning. It was raining off and on and visibility was about 10 feet. I asked the lady at the counter if the fog would burn off soon.
This was one of them. It was only 5 miles to the OK border, so I crossed over. The Talimena goes about 40 miles into OK, so I was planning to ride the length of it into OK. I got about 2o miles into OK and the temperature started to drop dramatically. The roads were wet so it had already rained there. I could smell the rain in the air, so I figured I'd turn around and head back to the lodge. I was only 20 miles into OK at that point. I'd dodged rain the entire trip so far and didn't want to get caught in a storm now. The road was in good condition, but there was no shoulder and places to pull off were far between. If I got caught in a downpour, it may be several miles before I could find a place to pull off and gear up. I got caught in a slight drizzle, but nothing major and made it back to the lodge before the storm set in. The view from the lodge look like this before I left.
This was what it looked like when I got back
The storm was pretty severe. I was really happy that I had opted for a room at the lodge rather than a campsite at the park. This was the view from the same spot this morning. It was raining off and on and visibility was about 10 feet. I asked the lady at the counter if the fog would burn off soon."You're on top of a mountain sweetie. That ain't fog. It's a cloud. Based on this storm, will probably look like this for the rest of the day."
So, I'm still at the lodge. Decided to stay an extra day. The hotel staff told me I could take a shortcut "off the mountain" to get out of the clouds, but would still be riding in this rain and limited visibility for several miles. I decided to wait it out here. The whole point of my vacation is to enjoy the ride and my destination, Mount Nebo, was supposed to look the same as here. So I'd be driving out of this mess just to drive back into it. Hopefully tomorrow will look a bit better and I can get outta here. This place is really scenic, but there isn't anything to do. I'm ready to get moving.
-s
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