Day Eight - Bingham ME to Middlebury VT – 350 miles
We started out the day by a little breakfast at the local gas station and diner. It might have been the best breakfast we had the whole the trip or maybe it was just because we were so hungry. We rode ME16 toward Kingfield where we gassed up and headed west on ME142 (KMZ). In Phillips we picked up ME4 (KMZ) and into Rangeley. The town Rangeley sits on Rangeley Lake and looked to be a tourist town. We rode the north side of Mooselookmeguntic Lake and down the east side. We skirted south of Richardson Pond and Aziscohos Lake. We were riding in complete wilderness and through heavily forested areas. It was great riding and the road was wonderful. We crossed over the NH state line and stopped at the Androscoggin State Wayside Park (KMZ) along the Androscoggin River. The pull off was not in that great of shape but the view was decent. We continued on NH16 to Errol where we stayed on NH16. The roads here were very twisty and lots of fun. The road follows the course of the river so there were plenty of turns. After about 25 miles we turned east on 110A (KMZ) and then picked up 110. Soon we reached the little town of Stark, our destination to see another covered bridge. The Stark covered bridge (KMZ) also known as the Pittsburg covered bridge. It spans 134’ across the Ammonoosuc River. It was built in 1853 and is a Paddleford Truss construction. We stayed on 110 to Groveton where we stopped at another covered bridge. This bridge also spanned the Ammonoosuc River. It is 126’ in length and is also a Paddleford Truss construction. The Groveton Bridge (KMZ) was built in 1852. We went south down US3 towards Lancaster where we picked up NH135 to continue along the river. Shortly we were at another bridge on the west side of Lancaster. The Mt. Orne Bridge (KMZ) was built in 1911 and spans 266’ feet across the Connecticut River and is a Howe truss construction. We continued on NH135 down to Littleton where we picked up US302. We had ridden this stretch before but somehow had missed the big bridge (KMZ) at Bath. I guess we hadn’t been looking for bridges in the past. The bridge is an impressive 374’ over the Ammonoosuc River and was built in 1832. The current bridge is the fifth bridge at this site, the others having been wiped out by floods. The Brick Store probably is as big a draw as the bridge having been in operation since 1790 when the first bridge was built and is the oldest General Store in the country. We walked down to the river to take some pictures of the bridge. We left Bath and went south on NH10, once again following the river down to Orford NH. There we crossed over the Connecticut River travelled down US5 and turned west on VT244. The road takes a jog around Lake Fairlee to the north. The road is pure countryside, fairly narrow, full of twisties, and in great condition. We turned onto VT113. This road was in the same condition as VT244, and we blasted on towards Chelsea VT. VT110 just south of Chelsea took us down to North Royalton where we crossed I-89 and picked up VT107. We stayed on VT107 following the White River to Gaysville where we went north on VT100. This is a premier road we have travelled a few times. We weren’t on the road long, maybe 35 miles and we turned west on VT125 toward Middlebury. There we found our motel on the west side of town. The Sugarhouse Motel (KMZ)was not very good, and there was nothing around, so we went back to town to get a Subway sandwich at a local gas station and called it a night.
