@Drew4UTk ,
Since you might be familiar with the area, where we were staying had a Sevierville address, though it was actually closer to Pigeon Forge than Sevierville. If you know where Wears Valley is, we were on a mountain accessed from there. Wears Valley was basically the foot of the mountain where we came down to get anywhere else. Some of the 6 mile trek up and down that mountain I would drive 25ish--
maybe 30--and noted the speed limit was 35, and thought anybody actually doing 35 through there would be in the obituaries the next day.
There were 2 or 3 turns, however, where I'm positive even the locals wouldn't even come close to that. It was near U-turns, and I'm talking about just a few yards of space between pavement at the curve. It was the limit of my truck's turning radius to even take that turn, and that much only at 3-4 mph. In fact, I'm not even sure I stayed in my "lane,"....I was fortunate that I never met another vehicle coming the other direction at those spots. It was all you could do to take the turn while hogging the entire road. It's just not physically possible anyone could take
those curves at 35 mph. You'd tip over headlong either right into somebody's yard or else off the side of the mountain, as you say. Those few spots were treacherous.
And yet....not where I wrecked. It really was all about that jackhole leaving a U-haul type truck in the middle of the road, forcing me to go around it while the other guy was pulling out of a parking spot around it on the other side. The more I've thought about it, the more I think the curve and the incline didn't have as much to do with it as I thought, and that this could've happened anywhere to me, even on straight and flat roads in my home state.
Not unrelated....can't say I was impressed with the Sevier County sheriff's dept for never showing up when we called them. Not that the guy I collided with stuck around anyway. But without a police report, it really screwed up my insurance claim. I have a feeling my premiums are about to have lift-off too, but they probably would've done that to me no matter what.
There will probably come a day when I go back. But right now the whole idea of east TN has left a bad taste in my mouth.
On the plus side, I'm not sure how many times I've been to that area since I was a kid, but this was the first time I ever saw a bear. All the trash cans on the mountain had bear-proof cages around them, and the Airbnb host warned us to keep our car doors locked because bears have learned how to open them, which I thought was quite something. The morning I left at sun-up to get to the nearest Ram dealership, I saw a little fella roaming around in the road on my way down the mountain. Wasn't able to get any pictures, but it was quite a sight, and I think probably the first bear I've ever seen in person. He appeared to be alone, but I reckon he was still pretty young, and a mama-bear may not have been too far away. I don't know how aggressive those black bears are, but seems like if they were prone to attacking people then we'd hear about it a lot more around there. The locals talk about them like we talk around here about racoons and armadillos digging up our flower beds....kind of a nuisance but no real threat.
