Maine!

We departed camp at Woodstock CT at a leisurely hour and continued north and east on I-84 into Massachusetts and onto the Massachusetts turnpike.  We had intended to take the outer loop, I-495, around Boston, but I was cut off trying to enter the ramp and was unable to take that exit.  We continued on the Mass Turnpike, as Dorcas screamed for me to take the next ramp and go back.  Dorcas was adamant that she didn't want to go into the heart of Boston. But there was no next ramp, so we had no choice but to continue, and then take 1-95 north out of Boston.  We had expected congestion and delays, but it was actually pretty smooth sailing.  The only downside was that there was an extra toll plaza or two.  I think the distance was about the same.

The Big Blunder

We safely escaped Boston and cut through a corner of New Hampshire for about 12 miles.  In Portsmouth NH we topped off with some relatively cheap  diesel.  At $2.98/gal it will likely be the cheapest fuel we will see for the next 6 weeks or more.  Shortly thereafter we crossed into Maine.

A quick stop at the Maine rest stop

We arrived in Freeport ME about 2:00 on Monday May 18.  Online research revealed free overnight RV parking in Freeport in a public lot on Depot Street only 2 blocks from the L.L. Bean campus.  We hoped it wasn't full and our good living paid off; there were only two other RVs in the lot  There were 4 lanes for RVs but within each lane it was nose-to-tail parking.  I could see right away it might be easy to get blocked in.  We picked a lane on the left edge of the lot and pulled up behind a Class B van conversion.  After a short while the van left, and we were able to pull up to the head of the lane, facilitating a clean getaway when it came time to leave.  The weather has been cool and wet since arriving in New England, so we bundled up and went shopping.

Our first stop was at the L.L. Bean outlet store where we shopped for a while.  We have most everything we need nowadays, but we found a few items that called to us.

With the numerous stores and warehouses around town operated by L.L. Bean, there were a lot of company delivery trucks and maintenance vehicles darting around town.

We spotted the Boot Mobile at the L.L. Bean headquarters campus.  We actually saw at least two different ones.   I think it was size 156EE.

The L.L. Bean campus is currently undergoing a massive renovation project, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2026.  A re-boot, if you will.  The L.L.Bean Flagship Re-Boot  The original flagship store was closed, but there were four satellite stores selling various wares.   The outerwear and apparel goods were being sold in a huge tent named Camp L.L. Bean.  See map below:

Parts of original flagship store and construction zone

Interior of the Hunting & Fishing Store

Rods galore

A tent sale, if you will

Boats galore

Cold, windy, wet weather is conducive to buying comfort clothing, so we dropped a few coins at the stores. We departed Freeport about 2:00 PM on Tuesday May 20 after parking for almost the full 24-hour limit..  

After a sprint of only 109 miles we arrived at Pumpkin Patch RV Resort, just south of Bangor ME, our home for the next 3 nights.  A number of our Newmar caravan members are gathering here too, preparing to cross the Canadian border.  I spent some time catching up on this journal while Dorcas got our paperwork in order and inventoried our alcoholic beverage stores.

Site #15 at Pumpkin Patch

I mostly hung out at camp, but while shopping in Bangor, Dorcas visited the Stephen King home.  King no longer lives here and the home now is the headquarters to The Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation. 

We will be at Pumpkin Patch for 3 nights then cross the border and meet our caravan in St. John NB.

Summitting Mt. Washington

Today we hiked to the summit of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast. Mt. Washington has the distinction of having the worst weather on earth. That is not the experience we wanted to have, so we watched the summit forecast very closely for several days. There is a major weather observatory atop Mt. Washington and great weather data is available. This day looked like the best: clear, sunny, mid 50s, 30 mph winds. While watching the forecast this week one day was predicted to be "clear but undercast" for the summit. This was a new one for me, but I think it means the sky is clear, looking up from the summit, but there is cloud cover below the summit. The highest surface wind ever recorded on earth was 231 mph on Mt. Washington. I expect that that record is due more to the fact that they have all that fancy monitoring equipment, than having higher winds than other peaks. Shoot, Grandfather Mountain probably gets winds that high, but their Radio Shack weather station blows away when the wind exceeds 125 mph.

We chose to hike up on the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail and return on the Jewell Trial, forming a loop about ten miles long. The trialhead is at EL2560', near the parking lot for the Cog Railway. The summit is at EL6288'. If you do the math, the gain is 3728, a fairly respectable climb. The hike actually was much easier than I expected. The Ammonoosuc Trail connected with the Crawford Path about a half mile below the summit. The Crawford Path is the oldest mountain hiking trial in America. It was laid out in 1819 and ends at the summit. As far as I could tell, only one other person hiked up the Ammonoosuc Trail this day. However, when we reached the summit, we saw perhaps a hundred other hikers. I assume they all came up the east side from Pinkham Notch. There were also about a gazillion tourist who came up on the Cog or on the Mt. Washington Auto Road. It is always disheartening to crest a significant summit and then have a tourist in flip flops take your picture and ask if you actually walked all the way up here. We stayed at the summit almost two hours before heading down. About 1/4 way down Dorcas turned her ankle. It wasn't very serious, but it caused her some discomfort and slowed us down a bit on the descent. We took about 4 hours going up and four hours coming down. It was a very rewarding hike. As forecast, the weather was great and the views were fantastic.

Quote of the Day

"Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

Daniel Webster speaking of the Old Man of the Mountain.

Franconia Notch State Park

On our windshield tour yesterday the one place we saw that we really wanted to return to was Franconia Notch State Park. Franconia Notch State Park has a number of remarkable features, including the Flume Gorge, Old Man of the Mountain, Cannon Mountain aerial tram and ski area and a multi use recreation trail. Franconia Notch State Park is unusual in that an interstate highway, I-93 runs right up the middle of the park. When they were planning I-93 there was much debate and controversy about its route through the park. Finally, a compromise was reached that the highway would be built, but it would be more like a parkway than an interstate highway. Consequently, the section through the park necks down to two lanes and has a 45 mph speed limit. On/off ramps access the park features. It is actually rather nicely done.

First we toured the Flume Gorge, a 700' long 90' deep slot gorge of the Pemigewasset River through solid granite. It was a bit reminiscent of our earlier visit to Watkins Glen State Park. One can walk up the gorge on wooden walkways affixed to the walls of the gorge. Later we rode our bikes up the multi-use Recreational Trail which runs almost 9 miles from the south end to the north end of the park. The trail is paved, and, while there are a few steep sections, the grade is relatively mild. The trail passes by the viewpoint of the former Old Man of the Mountain. The Old Man of the Mountain was an iconic face profile consisting of five slabs of Conway red granite suspended in a cliff 1200' above Profile Lake. Unfortunately, on May 3, 2003, the Old Man fell, after his chin slab gave way. We also toured the New England Ski Museum, at the base of Cannon Mountain ski area. Much of the museum was dedicated to the 10th Mountain Division of the Fifth Army, which fought in the latter part of WWII. The idea of the 10th, a division of highly trained mountain soldiers, was proposed to the War Department by Charles M. (Minnie) Dole, the founder of the National Ski Patrol. The 10th waged a very successful campaign in the Italian Alps in 1944 and 1945. After the war many veterans from the 10th returned to the US and pioneered the development of recreational skiing and mountaineering in this country. We finished our ride in the near dark. Another full day, however, no moose sighting.

White Mountains Windshield Tour

Today we slept late and had a late brunch. Then we struck out to reconnoiter these parts of the White Mountain National Forest. We drove east on Route 302 and found ourselves at the base of Mt. Washington and the station for the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. The Cog first summited Mt. Washington in 1869. The average grade of its ascent is 25%, and it achieves 37% at its steepest point. Tickets are $59 each, so we elected to pass on a train ride. I rode the Cog in 1986, and Dorcas didn't feel strongly about it. We did hang around the station for a while and watched the trains depart. The engines are specially designed for this hill and the boilers are tilted forward about 30 degrees so that they are nearly level while pushing the car up the hill. They put out a lot of coal smoke. The folks back at DAQ would be appalled.

We continued on Route 302 and found ourselves in Bartlett, NH. There we found wi-fi at the public library at Josiah Bartlett Elementary School. In TV's "The West Wing" Martin Sheen played President Josiah Bartlet, from a small town in New Hampshire, who was a direct descendant of the real-life Josiah Bartlett, a New Hampshire signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Fact meets fiction in the shadow of the Presidential Range. After checking our e-mail and conducting other internet chores, we left Bartlett and cut over on the Bear Notch Road to Route 112, the "Kancamagus Highway". The "Kank" is a very scenic road that runs about 34 miles from Lincoln to Conway through a very undeveloped section in the heart of the White Mountain NF. We had been told that this was prime moose habitat, but we couldn't find Bullwinkle. Leaving the "Kank" we drove north through Franconia Notch State Park just as it was getting dark and closed the loop on our circuit drive through the White Mountains.

At many of the trailheads and other parking areas the National Forest charges a parking fee. This is not unique to the WMNF, but it is more prevalent here than I can recall in other NFs we have visited recently. On the up-side, the money appears to be wisely spent. The parking areas and overlooks were paved and had ample space. The NF also had a large number of very nice interpretive displays.

The fall foliage is splendid. It has probably peaked for this area, although with the warm temperatures and dry summer, it is not as colorful peak as other years.

Arrival in New Hampshire

This morning we broke camp and drove the Veteran's Memorial Highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain. The summit offers excellent views of Lake Placid and the High Peaks. On a clear day one can see Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately, today was not a clear day. There were no clouds, but there was a thick haze. Still a great view.

We have now left New York and the Adirondacks behind. It's nearly impossible to get from Wilmington NY to Vermont. That pesky Lake Champlain gets in the way. We could cross on one of several ferries, but they charge by the foot. With the coach and the Element, including about 4 feet of canoe sticking off the rear, we are about 60' stem to stern. The toll would have cost almost 80 bucks. Our other options were to 1) use the bridge 30 miles to the north at Champlain, or 2) use the bridge 30 miles to the south at Port Henry. The ferry would be the quickest route, but, hey, we're retired. We're in no hurry. We used the Port Henry bridge. We zipped across Vermont in no time. Tonight we are camped at Apple Hill Campground, a private campground in Bethlehem, NH, north and west of the White Mountain National Forest. For the first time in two weeks we have external electrical power and are doing some laundry and running the heat pumps, the microwave and the stereo. We will probably stay here 3-4 nights and hike in the WMNF, before heading to Maine.