North Conway, NH to Bangor, ME

We did Mt. Washington; a fun adventure. Located about 15 miles north of our motel, it was a quick and easy ride to the entrance to the road to the top.

It rained a bit overnight, and it was foggy outside when we woke up, the skies started clearing as we got on the bikes and started to the mountain. The air was slightly cool, and it was a very comfortable ride.

After paying the $14 fee to ride to the top, we easily did the eight miles to the top. Almost all of the road was paved, but there was maybe a half mile of hard-packed dirt and gravel. Easy riding. Parts of the road was very rough; parts of it was very smooth. None of it was a problem.

As we approached the summit, the temperature dropped rapidly the last 1,000 feet or so. Also the fog! When we got to the top, it was 53 degrees and the wind was blowing about 35mph. We parked the bikes into the wind to make sure they were not blown over while we were inside getting breakfast.

It wasn't cold, but it was cool. Breakfast was a muffin and coffee from the snack shop. Not bad, overall. The view would have been good, but the fog was pretty thick most of the time, obscuring the sun and scenery. A couple of times the fog lifted a bit and we caught glimpses of mountains across the valley. I would have liked it more if it had been clear, but I enjoyed it just the same. Mt Washington is slightly lower than our Mt. Mitchell (about 300 feet lower), at 6,288 feet. It has the highest wind speed recorded, at 231 mph during a storm in 1934. Wild weather on top of this mountain!

The ride down was easy, and we then headed northwest on into north-western Maine. We rode to Lake Mooselookmegundlic. We had an excellent lunch at the 4 Seasons Restaurant; I had the best Scallops I've ever eaten and very good blueberry pie. Our best lunch of the trip so far.

Then we headed south towards Bangor. Along the way, we ran through a pretty good thunderstorm. Got wet, but it felt pretty good, cooling us off for a while. The ride was good, on good roads (except the very poor road surfaces, again).

Got into Bangor and got gas and found an Econolodge with reasonable rates, Interneet, and a clothes dryer (time to do laundry again). This laundry every few nights is a pain....

Today's ride was about 275 miles.

Tomorrow--Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.