We didn’t suffer enough yesterday so we got back on the Down East Sunshine Trail again today. However the trail in the area near Cherryville was a bit friendlier to us. Our Salsa gravel bikes didn’t seem to notice the difference they just kept grinding.
Cherryville is the self proclaimed “Wild Blueberry Capitol of the World”. They say the fog and sandy soil is perfect for growing blueberries.
The trail wasn’t as scenic as yesterday but was pleasant riding through pine forests.
We crossed the Narragusgus River not too far out of Cherryville. It was the color of rusted iron.Narragusgus RiverWetland area – still many wild flowers in bloom.Wetlands
We are both worn out so decided to take a couple days to rest before we finish our Maine miles. We are spending a couple nights at Sunset Point Campground in Harrington, ME. It is a gorgeous place right on the water.
View from our campsite at Sunset Point.Beautiful sunset from campground
We spent a quiet night in Newport, Maine. After our ride yesterday and a long drive we were a bit slow getting going this morning but finally got on the road to Ellsworth, Maine to ride the Down East Trail.
Downeast Scenic Railroad passed the trail head while we were getting ready to ride. It followed the trail for a short distance.
The Down East Trail is named for its location in Down East Maine, dubbed by early Mariners for being “downwind” from more western ports such as Boston. Also, it’s one of the first trails to experience sunrise in the United States.
What can I say about this trail? Bad news first – it was loose gravel, sometimes big rocks, rutted, and washboarded. ROUGH!
Good news – there were some areas of smooth going, the scenery was pretty, the ATV riders were courteous and the deer flies didn’t carry us away.
One of the smooth areas. We saw several beaver dams.Beaver pondMarshlands
We passed through woods and marshlands. Wild flowers were still in bloom. We road 12 miles out of Ellsworth and it was pretty remote.
We are spending the night in Ellsworth and may try another section of the trail in the morning. Wish us luck!!
Yesterday was a travel day for us as we headed toward St Johnsbury, VT for our next ride. We had a relaxing morning and left Lake Carmi State Park about noon.
Camped at Lake CarmiOur view of Lake Carmi
We arrived in Littleton, NH, where we would spend the night, with plenty of day left we did some shopping and went to the local pub/restaurant for dinner. Good food, great service and decent prices.
Oh yes, cold beer and popcorn.Trailhead information
The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail runs along what was once known as the covered bridge line and was a leaf peeper train for scenic tourism.
Tunnel at beginning of the trail
We rode the eastern section of the rail trail. It was 12.5 miles on an uphill grade to Danville. We took an hour and 30 minutes ride up the trail and under an hour on our return. It was a fun fast ride down and a much earned rest.
There were two tunnels which took us under roadways.
We traveled in and out of dense forest on the rail bed which at times was a few hundred feet above the forest floor.
There were cutout areas of bedrock which provided very cool temperatures..We road just a short distance past the Danville Train Station.Minor bike repair performed by my favorite mechanic.
The wild flowers along the trail were beautiful and we saw people picking bouquets. Where the woods were most dense ferns covered the sides of the trail.
A spring along the trail.
We are excited to have finished our Vermont 100 today, that makes 47 down and one to go. We are spending the night in Newport, Maine and hope to ride the Downeast Sunrise Rail Trail tomorrow.
Just had to stop and get some maple syrup while in Vermont
This is our third day of riding and we have completed 78 miles in Vermont. We had a quiet night at Lake Carmi State Park. Quietest place we have ever stayed. Of course there was no phone service, no TV channels and no generators!!
Enosburg Falls – A beautiful day for a bike ride.
We rode the trail north from Enosburg Falls. The town once dubbed itself “Dairy Capitol of the World”. There were many dairy cattle farms, sheep and goats – a very odiferous area.
Large dairy barn
We had great views of the Missisquoi River today.
Beautiful Missisquoi RiverMissisquoi River
The trail was two single tracks, sometimes one single track and sometimes no track. We worked hard with the long grades and rougher surface. Good new is we both burned lots of calories.
Double track with over grown vegetation..
Really not complaining it was just more challenging. As always we are blessed2bbiking.
This was the end of the trail in Rockford, VT. We were just a few miles from Quebec, Canada.
We will be spending another quiet night at Lake Carmi State Park. Tomorrow is a travel day as we head for St Johnsbury, VT to ride the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.
We had a quiet night after the storms passed and awoke to much cooler weather. The temperature when we began our ride was 60 degrees, 30 degrees cooler then yesterday.
We are in the country. The trail provided lots of variety – dairy farms, beautiful dense forests and corn fields.
Beautiful fields of corn.
The trail was packed gravel and crushed stone, sometimes hard pack sometimes a bit loose. There were grades of over a mile long. We built some muscle and cardio on the uphill grades.
Trestle across Mississquoi River.
The trestle into Sheldon Junction is the site of a train derailment which prompted the closure of the railroad making way for the railtrail.
Mississquoi River from trestle.
Riding through the forest it was interesting to see areas with tubing used to collect Maple sap.
Tubing used to collect sap from maples.We think this is a collecting area for sap before it goes to the sugar mill.
The trail is 26 miles long so we rode out 13 miles, almost to Enosburg Falls, and back. So, 26 miles for us today.
Abandon barn along the trail.
We are spending the night at Lake Carmi State Park. Rustic, no hookups and restricted generator use.
After a relaxing dinner last night we headed to the local Walmart to spend the night.
Oops!! Imagine our surprise when we opened our shade this morning.
We were only about 10 minutes from Oakledge Park trailhead in South Burlington. High winds and thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon so we were anxious to get our ride done.
Lake Champlain- Burlington lake front.
The trail headed north from the trailhead along the waterfront with beautiful views of Lake Champlain. We passed through some industrial areas, parks and a very busy awesome skatepark.
Winooski River Trail Bridge
We crossed the Winooski River Bridge followed by a half-mile elevated boardwalk across a flood plain.
Pointing the way to the Colchester Causeway.
The causeway portion is the highlight of this trail. Built in 1900 atop huge marble boulders, the raised railbed cuts across Lake Champlain. We had high winds at our backs headed out and the waves were only feet away.
Colchester Causeway across Lake Champlain.Mileage marker near The Cut. You can see the bike ferry in the background.
The causeway ends abruptly out in the lake at “The Cut”. There is a bike ferry to take bikers to South Hero Island. Because of the high winds and threatening weather we decided not to make the crossing.
They call this “The Cut”, a 200 foot gap in the trail where the railroad swing bridge once stood.End of trail for us.
With the wind at our backs it took us a little over an hour to reach The Cut. Our return ride into the wind took about an hour and a half.
We are now in Saint Albans, VT, not too far from the Canadian border. The winds are shaking the motorhome and we’ve had some heavy rain. The temperature was 90 earlier but has thankfully dropped considerably after the rain.
More adventures to follow – 25 miles down, 75 to go.
We are back in our home on wheels. Biking in Vermont and Maine is on the agenda. These are the last two states to complete our challenge of riding 100 miles in all the lower 48. First stop will be Island Line Rail Trail near Burlington, VT.
We like to look back at our relaxing, amazing winter in Florida before starting a new adventure. Our time was filled with visiting family and friends, beachcombing, biking and avoiding that Covid thing. So here are some of our memories.
Bonfire with kids at St Lucie COE campground.Celebrating Scott’s 36th with his family. Jupiter lighthouse in the background.Catching up with cousins at Koreshan State Park. Lunch with Beach Lake friends at Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda.Spending fun times with Connie . We found a treasure trove of Mardi Gras beads.Helped Sam organize his garage.Dinner at U-Tiki in Jupiter. Legacy bike trail near Oscar Scherer State Park.Saw this guy riding Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail.
We stayed in several State Parks that were new to us. Visiting the beautiful parks and beaches on the panhandle was a highlight.
Beautiful night skies at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.Crown of thorns at Koreshan State Park.Entrance to St George Island State Park. It was 18 mile round trip to get ice cream. Worth the effort – each of 3 times! This crab was on the beach on St. George Island. He posed nicely for his picture.Our favorite place to eat in Grayton Beach – just a short bike ride from the State Park. Best shrimp ever.Along Timpoochee Trail near Grayton Beach. Meanwhile Erik and his family were enjoying a snowy Alaska winter.
We arrived in Ohio in time to enjoy a late spring snow. It’s always good to get home and begin where we left off on our home projects.
Late spring snow to welcome us home.We enjoy being able to bike the beautiful Western Reserve Greenway while at home.Amish farm along the Greenway south of Orwell.
