Day 52 The end is near! A great day again with a nice rail-trail. New Lebanon, New Hampshire to Gilmanton, New Hampshire.

Day 52.  We went from West Lebanon N.H. to Gilmanton, N.H. The distance was 68.7 with only 2,520 feet of registered climb overall.  A nice day indeed and I am surviving using Gayle's bike.  At first it was foggy, but that cleared up fairly quickly.  Here we are at the start.

So, along the rail-trail path at first there was a lot of evidence that Halloween was here. The trail was nice, but as we went on it got just too rough for road tires so we hit the roads. Here are some pictures on the trail.

We saw another couple of covered bridges, and here is one of the best.

In Danbury where we had lunch we saw a welcoming sign, but it did not appear to be for "push-bikes"!

The trees were continuing to turn to fall colors by the minute.  Here was one of the great examples.

Finally, as we were waiting for Gayle in Gilmanton, we found some big mushrooms that had sprouted up.  Very impressive, and no, we did not eat/smoke any of them.

Well, tomorrow looks like the end of the ride!  60 some miles and the front wheel gets wet.  Then, westward ho!!

Day 51 A great ride, even on another bike. Ticonderoga, New York to West Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Day 51.  We went up to see the full fall colors again.  When we started at about 200 feet above sea level only a few of the trees were broken out in color, but as we climbed they just got brighter.  Here is a series of tree-shots starting low and climbing.

Along the way we found a covered bridge, and indeed it was a covered railroad bridge!  Being a railfan, and loving these types of things, it was fun to look and climb around.

As for interesting things for the day, here are a few.

The other thing that happened was that my bike gave up the ghost - appropriate for the season I guess.  The chain I got replaced in Buffalo, NY broke and got caught in the spokes of the rear tire.  This wrenched the derailleur and destroyed that in a heartbeat.  I was on the side of the road, 2/3's of the way up a very steep grade with no means of transportation.  There was no fixing it!  Gayle came to the rescue by offering her bike to use for the next two days - Whew!  A few adjustments and I was back in a saddle again.  I finished the climbs and will be continuing on tomorrow with her bike, but at least I am still in action!!

Fall Farben, Chapter 2

As we climbed the hills of Adirondack State Park in upstate New York over the last couple of days, the fall colors just exploded.  Apparently the nighttime temperatures at the higher elevations were low enough to flip the switch that tells the trees to start preparing for winter.  Below are some of the best images from the last couple of days.

The Living Dead

As we travel through upstate New York, one thing that strikes me is how many cemeteries there are.  I made a quip to Paul C., wondering how anything got done in some of these towns, since so many of the people were dead.  Paul responded that I'd better watch out since he saw a help-wanted sign in the last cemetery and I might get a job there!  All joking aside, it is interesting to wander around these memorials, read some of the epitaphs, and ponder life in general.  I found several gravestones with dates in the mid to early 1800s.

I bet that there are dates in the 1700's, but I didn't have time to search around.  Others were interesting just due to their grandeur. 

And then there was this stone with a bunch of caricatures on it. 

And this scene just seemed so serene with the bright red fall colors.

I'll close this post with my first success at catching a blue jay, doing what it does best - eating at a bird feeder.

Day 50 Raquette Lake to Ticondergoa - through Severance and Paradox!? Raquette Lake, New York to Ticonderoga, New York.

Day 50.  A cooler day indeed, but no rain.  We stayed up and down in the hills until the final drop, and down we went.  A very long descent indeed.  The distance was 87.2 miles and we climbed 4,363 feet overall.  The temps were cooler but essentially no wind.  Very nice.
The first exciting thing we saw was how the beavers have gone up-scale around here.  They have satellite TV!

Again, we were enjoying beautiful fall colors.

We saw some other great colors too.  The owners were zipping around in this TR6 on a beautiful fall day and I would have traded my bike for this one!  They said no - can't figure out why.

Along the way we did hit some road construction.  Waiting in line we had a chat with the traffic controller about the area - great way to learn the details.  Riding in the soft gravel was exciting.

As for the interesting things, the painted rock was a stand-out.

Finally, there was the old satellite dish that had gone to the roots - so to speak.

Yes, Halloween is in full swing around here.

Tomorrow we will be heading off the Adventure Cycle route.  With the Hurricane coming we want to finish before the storm hits, so we are taking more of a "B-Line" to the Atlantic. Any port in a storm!!