The AM Forum

Last week I took a break from soldering, mowing, and other typical activities for a short trip to the Smoky Mountains before I had to return to the university and before my daughter starts the 5th grade.  We normally go down and hike a few times a year but since adopting German Shepherd Cheyenne this was our first trip since last Fall.  My wife has many allergies so she doesn't care for the mountains and she stayed home and took care of Cheyenne.  Fortunately that went very well and the two bonded well although Maureen bought a special pair of rubber gloves so she wouldn't get "dog slime" from playing fetch with the pup :)

This was our first trip in our 2014 ATS and I reset the mileage before leaving IL and 8.5 hours later we were in Townsend TN with the monitor reading 29.3 MPG trip average when we pulled into the hotel.  I left the cruise set between 77 and 80 most of the trip with some faster bursts through southern KY, the 3.6 engine gets excellent mileage.  Monday we started from Newfound Gap and hiked to Charlies Bunion and The Jumpoff.  Tuesday we drove down to Fontana village to hike to Shuckstack fire tower and that was Anna's first trip on US-129, better known as the "Tail of the Dragon" with 318 turns in 11 miles.  We hit the Dragon early in the morning so there was no traffic at all and the only other people we saw was one of the web photographers who got a few shots of us and I ordered one as a souvenir for Anna.  I set the car stability system for competition mode and it was great fun to take through the curves at quite a bit above the recommended speed limit although I think I slightly reduced the life of the summer performance tires :)

The fire tower was built in the 30s and although the wood steps have been replaced the angle steel is showing its age however the view was worth the climb.  We took a few days for short hikes and then repeated the first real hike that Anna took when she was 5 (she is now almost 11) which was a 4.1 mile round trip to Hen Wallow falls.  I have been going to the Smokies since I was 3 and this is the first trip I recall not getting rained upon, well at least not until we left to return when I drove through heavy rain for about the first 80 miles.  The mileage dropped a bit with the mountain driving but the overall trip average was back to 28.6 by the time we got back home.  I am already missing the mountains.

a few more shots

And one last group.

Beautiful. Nothing like the scenery and fresh air of the mountains for a get away. Clears the head.

Yes, away from the noise, the TV, internet, and other garbage. Time with family, too, reminds one of what really matters.

There's a fellow who sells those towers online for around $36K, but I know where you can get a good deal on a 65 footer. The ultimate tree house/hamshack.

Owning your own fire tower would be truly cool!  But it might look a bit out of place here in the flatlands.

Really nice photos.

Thanks for posting.

appreciate the photos and descriptions....Looks like a good time

What a nice trip for you and your daughter. Great photos - thanks for posting them, Rodger.

We visited the Smokies last summer for some hiking and rafting and thoroughly enjoyed it. Love those mountains.

If you're in good shape, try for Clingman's Dome if you go again. I took a PRC2000 up there on one trip. Unforunately, that's before I knew about the joy of fog static, so I didn't hear a whole lot. My entire family vacations up around Bryson City every year.

Nice pics, and nice ride Roger!  How'd the ATS do on the Dragon's Tail?

Your own fire tower would be the ultimate treehouse for Anna and would make a sweet antenna support.  Instead of using it to look out for fires, you could use it to scout for tornadoes?

John,

The ATS was a lot of fun on the Dragon.  It is a light car so 321 HP push it easily and the magnetic ride control really stiffens the suspension in sport mode.  I will be switching to all season tires on base wheels for fall/winter use so it will always be fun to put the wider summer performance tires back on in the Spring.  My original plan was to replace my 2008 CTS with a current generation CTS but I didn't really care for the new rear end styling and I really didn't like the one (maybe 2) year use of the Aisin transmission since GM's new fast shifting 8 speed auto wasn't quite ready for the CTS launch and I didn't want an orphan.  I had looked seriously at the 3.6 twin turbo in the CTS which would have been a fun car but I really didn't like the idea that it produced above the rated power of the Aisin 8 speed and I didn't want a transmission that had minimal changes to hopefully make it live under the increased power.  I was looking at a BMW 3 series when I bought my 08 CTS and it turns out the ATS is the perfect size for me, all I miss from the CTS are the cooled seats.  I will be hanging onto the ATS for awhile but a new Z06 will become the fun summer car in a little over a year.  That will be fun to try on the Dragon but my capabilities will be wisely restrained to well below Z06 capabilities :)

A fire tower would look nice in the pasture but I think I already have enough stuff to keep the farmer neighbors amused and I am already in a leading position for "oddest neighbor" honors :)

Rumor has it the CTS-V will be reverting to a V-8.

I have the Aisin 6-speed manual in my CTS.  Also shared with Toyota trucks, and shifts about the same (which is to say, long throw and notchy).  The V (at least the older, manuals) had Tremecs which I understand were quite a bit better than the Aisin.