2015-05-31 - NH - Day 4 - Naples to White Mountains
Leaving the beautiful campgrounds, we knew were going to ride into rain. Trying to avoid as much of it as we could, Brian, Andy, Catherine, Reed and I left early. Along the tree-filled way, we stopped at a wooden moose structure that Reed and Brian briefly rode. The first rest stop was in Lovell where we stopped at Rosie's Convenience Store and Restaurant. Soon, we crossed into New Hampshire and everyone was excited to capture their first state crossing in a photo.
We rode towards our second rest stop was in Conway but due to the rain and hills, we split up. Reed and Brian rode on ahead at a faster speed. We rejoined Reed at Maple's Cafe in Conway. Apparently confused by the confusing street signs and all the different Conway towns surrounding Conway, Brian made a wrong turn and ended up at a bakery. He rode to join us at the cafe, bringing a whole bag of day-old muffins he got for a few bucks. It was nice to enjoy the warmth of the cafe and avoid some of the rain.
Regrouped and satiated, we rode on, up the Kancamagus Highway up the White Mountains. The rain did not stop and we were quite cold. We stopped briefly at a covered bridge but mostly powered up our way to the Jigger Johnson Campgrounds. Close to the campgrounds Catherine and I saw two people holding up "Go Brian" signs. We told Brian they were probably waiting for him. He turned back to greet them. When they came up the hill to camp, we found out that they were Brian's old friends from when he lived in New Hampshire. After setting up camp, they agreed to drive us back down to town instead of staying at the old, lonely, powerless campsite. 7 people and a large dog squeezed into their van for the trip.
In town, we spent time at the official rest stop with other riders as well as at Maple's Cafe again. Quite a few riders were irritated at us for having finished already whereas they still had to ride up through the rain but honestly, we had to go through the same thing. Eventually, we rode back up in the van with Joe after they decided to close up the rest stop. It was fun to drive up past some of the riders and try to encourage them but most of them were just in survival mode.
Regrouped and satiated, we rode on, up the Kancamagus Highway up the White Mountains. The rain did not stop and we were quite cold. We stopped briefly at a covered bridge but mostly powered up our way to the Jigger Johnson Campgrounds. Close to the campgrounds Catherine and I saw two people holding up "Go Brian" signs. We told Brian they were probably waiting for him. He turned back to greet them. When they came up the hill to camp, we found out that they were Brian's old friends from when he lived in New Hampshire. After setting up camp, they agreed to drive us back down to town instead of staying at the old, lonely, powerless campsite. 7 people and a large dog squeezed into their van for the trip.
In town, we spent time at the official rest stop with other riders as well as at Maple's Cafe again. Quite a few riders were irritated at us for having finished already whereas they still had to ride up through the rain but honestly, we had to go through the same thing. Eventually, we rode back up in the van with Joe after they decided to close up the rest stop. It was fun to drive up past some of the riders and try to encourage them but most of them were just in survival mode.
The rain lightened up at night. We set up tents in the light rain and went to sleep knowing more rain and cold was expected the next day. There was no way that we could have fathomed how bad it was going to be.