Monday, 30 July 2018
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| today's route |
As I was leaving the Gorham area where I'd been camping, I realized I hadn't said anything here about the Androscoggin River. I drove along it 2 days ago when I went to Berlin - it runs from north of Berlin down to Gorham where it turns east and runs through Maine down to the Kennebec River - 148 miles. So I expect to see it again when I'm in Maine. It made a big difference in the development of the part of NH it's in back a long time ago.
I think I noted before all the "ATV Shared Roadway" signs in the Gorham/Berlin area but didn't think to mention the upcoming ATV Fest. Thank goodness it's not until early August or I wouldn't have been able to drive around the area - the fest drew 6,000 people last year and will likely draw more this year, and it's centered on Berlin and nearby Jericho Mountain State Park. Its motto: It's All About The Mud. I'm sure glad I don't operate a motel in the area.
I found as I drove along today that ATVs aren't just confined to the eastern side - shared roadway signs were all over the western side too with lots of businesses and facilities catering to them. And I saw a lot of actual people using them. Don't know what's special about this area that encourages ATVs. Unless it's that the population - and therefore traffic - levels are lower in this part of the state.
In Jefferson, NH, I found a mob scene at Santa's Village - a crowd around the entrance about 30 people deep. Not a line - a crowd. With more people parking across the street and walking over, both children and parents. Turns out it's a Santa-themed park with amusement rides and visits from Santa himself and all kinds of fun! they say. And they charge for it, too - their website says it costs $33 for ages 4-61; $30 for 62+. How can people afford to bring whole families? How can it possibly be that great to come see Santa in July? I guess that's what I get for never having had children.
Somewhere along that western road I passed a sign saying it was the 45th Parallel, halfway between the equator and the north pole.
I made a side trip to Stark. It's a small town with 2 claims to fame: its historic covered bridge (1857) and its history of having had a POW camp during WWII. I sort of found both.
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| Stark bridge and church |
I knew the POW camp was no longer in existence but had heard there was a historical marker and some ruins near the road so I went looking for them. I got instructions from a nice young woman in the state liquor store back in Colebrook who said she lived on a mountain in Stark in a house she and her father built. Her directions were vaguely accurate.
In a way, I got lucky at this marker because another car was already parked there, and as I got out to take this photo a man and his teenage son thrashed through the thick underbrush. They told me there were still a few foundations there but that no effort at all had been made to preserve them. I took a good look at how thick the greenery was and decided I didn't need to see some foundations.
This sign gave me pause, though. I'd heard before that Germans in POW camps here in the US often became friends with those living nearby. I can't help but compare that to the treatment given to American citizens of Japanese descent. I never heard that people living near those internment camps made friends with them. I'm so afraid we haven't learned anything, given the current treatment of American citizens who are Muslim or are of Asian or Latino descent. Time will tell, but I think we all need to stay vigilant.
It wasn't until I passed back by the Stark village green and saw a statue I thought looked familiar that I realized the town had been named for Gen. John Stark (husband of Molly Stark), famous defender of Vermont at the Battle of Bennington, and New Hampshire's most distinguished contribution to the Revolutionary War.
It was John Stark who gave New Hampshire its motto, Live Free or Die. In 1809 he was dying and couldn't attend some sort of gathering of old buddies and instead sent them a toast to make for him. What he wrote was, "Live free or die: death is not the worst of evils." It became NH's official state motto in 1945.
I was still roughly following the Connecticut River, as it's the boundary between VT and NH all along their joint border. I think I mentioned earlier that unusually NH owns the entire river instead of the boundary being in the middle of the river as with other river/state boundary lines. The Connecticut River turns inland just about when the highway does, and I continued to follow it all the way up to the Canadian border.
Once it stops being a border, the Connecticut River becomes lakes. I'd heard that this northern part of the state had beautiful lakes and it does. Lake Francis is the southernmost, large and very pretty. Then come 1st Connecticut Lake, 2nd Connecticut Lake and, unsurprisingly, 3rd Connecticut Lake. After that last one, I passed a sign on the highway that said it was the end of the Connecticut River Byway, which I'd followed off and on for a good part of the month. I kept going though because the map promised me a 4th Connecticut Lake - and I sort of found it.
This is the border with Canada. I don't know how much you can tell from this photo, but I was stunned by its prison-like appearance. Not exactly your Welcome to the United States atmosphere. Barbed wire and tall fences and so forth. Along the fence on the right of this photo is a trail saying it's a path along the Nature Conservancy's care of the 4th Connecticut Lake. I was truly intimidated by all that fencing and decided not to try it. What is ICE expecting to happen on the Canadian border that requires all that fencing and those huge buildings? I've seen lots and lots of people speaking French and driving cars with Québec license plates in NH, but does ICE expect hordes? Or a flood of people trying to enter illegally?
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| this is the road |
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| fireweed along the road |
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| 2nd Connecticut Lake |
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| 3rd Connecticut Lake |
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| 1st Connecticut Lake |
You can't tell because my camera doesn't take the picture my eyes see, which is panoramic. Each of these lakes is smaller than the previous one, so the 1st Connecticut Lake is quite large.
I found when I reached my campsite that I now have a somewhat panoramic view that I can photograph.
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| 1st Connecticut Lake |
Pretty nice, huh?
