Day Six - North Woodstock NH to Milford, NY (348 miles)
Day six started in a steady rain; not the best way to start, but we didn't have much choice. The Green Mountain gaps, unlike the Rocky Mountain passes offer roads less traveled. We started out west on NH 118, probably a good road when it is dry. When we came into the town of Warren we had to make a decision regarding which road to take over Piermont Mountain . We opted for 25A rather than the planned 25C. 25A looked like a better road for riding in the rain. Once over the mountain we hooked up with I-91, and headed south for a short while. The rain was getting heavier when we exited on NH113. As we began to head north and west the rain lessened. Just south of Post Mills we spotted a good spot for a break. It was an old CCC camp that was during the construction of many of the roads in the area. The camp was alongside the Ompompanosuc River . NH 113 turns into NH 66 west of I-89. NH 66 and NH 12 are sweeping roads flowing along riverbeds carved eons ago. Just before NH 66 reaches Randolph the scenery reveals the incongruous mountain scene of two whale flukes. At Randolph we headed south on NH12; Rochester Mountain was on our right. At Bethel we turned right on NH 107 until we picked up NH 100 at Stockbridge. NH 100 is a long valley road we had traveled on in 1997, and parallels the White River. Typical of valley roads, the curves on NH 100 are long and sweeping, with plenty of scenery and views. Fortunately the rain had all but subsided for our jaunt through the Green Mountains . Our ride on NH 100 lasted only about 10 miles before we turned left on NH 73. NH 73 took us over Brandon Gap straight, figuratively speaking, into the town of Brandon . The east-to west route to Brandon is the longer ascent through Brandon Gap (I always like going uphill better). We continued on NH 73 until it dead-ended into the Champlain Canal. There, we took a ferry across to Ticonderoga NY. Once across we headed south on 9N towards Lake George. 9W parallels the lake all the way into the town of Lake George . Knowing Cooperstown was our final destination, and still early in the day we decided to head back up north on I-87 to hook up with NY 8. This road took us through the southern portion of the Adirondacks . NY 8 blends into NY 30 and continues south to Amsterdam . Both of these roads were chocked full of scenery, and in good shape. We passed by the Great Sacandaga Lake, and continued until we hit U.S. 20. There we turned west and headed for Cooperstown . U.S. 20 is mostly 4 lane highway through the rolling hills of eastern NY. It was getting a little late, and we passed some pretty decent motels, but we continued on. We headed south on NY 80 and rode along Otsego Lake . This was a very nice area, and full of vacation homes. As we neared Cooperstown we passed a rather large building with well dressed people walking in. It was an opera house. We began to think there may not be the classical cheap motel in Cooperstown . We were right, we stopped on the south side of the town, and inquired about a particular motel's rate. With no cars in the lot we thought we might be able to strike a deal; no such luck, so we continued on. Just north of Milford we found a motel with a grass parking lot, and no cars in it. We had found the spot. We walked into town, and ate at the local tavern.
