GinaMcD
Well-known member
The rain last Sunday cancelled day two of the Covered Bridges weekend, so since we had the day free and the forecast was promising, we’d never ridden the Day 2 Routes, hadn’t hiked up Mt. Kearsarge (we were always too busy bagging 4,000 footers up in the Whites), and never eaten the Flying Goose, we decided today would be a good day for the ride! The Bluejags also had the day free, and while they had eaten at the Flying Goose a number of years ago, they also had never made it for the second half of the Bridges weekend, so they decided to tag along.
After having spent the ride up looking at all the wet, slimy leaves still hanging out on the roadways from yesterday’s rain, the vote for the “Alternate Wet Roads Route” to Rollins State Park was unanimous. It was a much smaller group that left Fiddleheads this morning, and while we had said we’d hit the road at 10, it was actually close to 11.
The weather was warmer than last weekend’s Saturday ride, but those of us who had electrics were using them at least for the first half of the day. My jacket, thankfully, was happy at the lowest setting, so I didn’t dare try medium or high for fear the gremlins that plagued me last weekend would come back!
We managed to only briefly lose the route twice, but Garmin quickly got us back on track. And it was a fantastic route. Some roads we’d been on in the past, but many were new to us.
We finally made it to Mt. Kearsarge, and after paying our entrance fee, snaked our way up the very narrow summit road to the parking area.
The hike up was wet
And rocky
And a bit steep in spots
But a bald overlook at about the halfway point
Made for a great spot for a little break
Eventually the other three caught up for a photo-op
Then it was back on the soggy trail for the final push to the summit
While it's hard to tell from the photos, the colors were still pretty dramatic
And the sky was full of puffy clouds
And while the sun was shining, the wind was blowing puddles, causing ripples in the puddles
Just as I was debating on whether it was windy enough to fly,
My three companions finally came into view, and we fought the wind long enough to snap some photos
While we don’t know what it was John did, at least he was begging forgiveness…
We made it down to the parking lot, tired and thirsty
We'd given up climbing mountains years ago when Paul's cranky old knees decided they'd had enough, but after our first mountain in over 13 years, Paul declared his two new knees trailworthy!
We checked the time, decided to carry on with the route and make the Flying Goose an early dinner stop. Yes, we were now a couple of hours behind schedule, and would hit the restaurant by about 3 o’clock.
We had a great meal, enjoyed a few more laughs, and then jumped on 89 south for the ride home. We managed to make it back to our driveway without having to change the tinted helmet visors.
Thanks to Fred for some excellent routing! If anyone is in this area, do yourself a favor and download the Garmin files for both days, then pick a beautiful late fall day and go out and have some fun!
After having spent the ride up looking at all the wet, slimy leaves still hanging out on the roadways from yesterday’s rain, the vote for the “Alternate Wet Roads Route” to Rollins State Park was unanimous. It was a much smaller group that left Fiddleheads this morning, and while we had said we’d hit the road at 10, it was actually close to 11.
The weather was warmer than last weekend’s Saturday ride, but those of us who had electrics were using them at least for the first half of the day. My jacket, thankfully, was happy at the lowest setting, so I didn’t dare try medium or high for fear the gremlins that plagued me last weekend would come back!
We managed to only briefly lose the route twice, but Garmin quickly got us back on track. And it was a fantastic route. Some roads we’d been on in the past, but many were new to us.
We finally made it to Mt. Kearsarge, and after paying our entrance fee, snaked our way up the very narrow summit road to the parking area.
The hike up was wet
And rocky
And a bit steep in spots
But a bald overlook at about the halfway point
Made for a great spot for a little break
Eventually the other three caught up for a photo-op
Then it was back on the soggy trail for the final push to the summit
While it's hard to tell from the photos, the colors were still pretty dramatic
And the sky was full of puffy clouds
And while the sun was shining, the wind was blowing puddles, causing ripples in the puddles
Just as I was debating on whether it was windy enough to fly,
My three companions finally came into view, and we fought the wind long enough to snap some photos
While we don’t know what it was John did, at least he was begging forgiveness…
We made it down to the parking lot, tired and thirsty
We'd given up climbing mountains years ago when Paul's cranky old knees decided they'd had enough, but after our first mountain in over 13 years, Paul declared his two new knees trailworthy!
We checked the time, decided to carry on with the route and make the Flying Goose an early dinner stop. Yes, we were now a couple of hours behind schedule, and would hit the restaurant by about 3 o’clock.
We had a great meal, enjoyed a few more laughs, and then jumped on 89 south for the ride home. We managed to make it back to our driveway without having to change the tinted helmet visors.
Thanks to Fred for some excellent routing! If anyone is in this area, do yourself a favor and download the Garmin files for both days, then pick a beautiful late fall day and go out and have some fun!
Gail is working on some pic's as well! JAG
