October 1-3, 2024

This is a continuation of my trip in New England and I start where I left off in Jeffersonville, VT. The Campground host suggested that I go east and find some covered bridges along the way, as a consequence I never drove south through Smugglers Notch. Again the early morning proved to be foggy and right at the edge of town I saw these concrete cylinders with beautiful murals.

This first bridge I thought was the Village Bridge, but now I am not sure and can’t identify it.

Then I came upon the Village Covered Bridge in the early morning fog. The bridge was built in 1877 over the North Branch Lamoille River and is one of five covered bridges in a 5 mile span. In 1967, the back wheels of a truck fell through the floor. Subsequently, steel I-beams were installed under the bridge. In 1970, the bridge survived a fire at a nearby house when firefighters hosed it down to prevent it from catching.^[4] It was completely rebuilt in 2000.

The next bridge is the Montgomery Covered bridge built in 1887. “In 1969 a large snowstorm deposited 5 feet (2 m) of snow, concentrated more on one side of the roof than the other, which induced a lean. Dallas Montgomery, a farmer for whom the bridge is now named, got up on the roof to remove some of the snow. Local resident Wilmer Locke used a winch to right the lean and added bracing. In 1971 an asphalt truck fell through the deck into the river below (luckily with only minor injuries to the driver). The bridge was subsequently reinforced with steel beams. Major repairs were supposedly made in 1997.”^[3]

Finally I came upon the Jaynes Covered Bridge in northern Waterville, VT and built in 1817. Steel I-beams now carry the load on the floor planking.

As I traveled further down the road, I came upon Belvidere Pond and what a glorious sight it is with the still water to make great reflections. In the first photo are the last vintages of the morning fog. The red foliage is very brilliant.

There is more color and reflections around every curve in the road.

This mammoth covered bridge is a preserved railroad bridge of great height.

The next grist mill is the biggest disappointment of the whole trip. I had to drive quite a distance out of the way to get to it. Then there was no room anywhere to park on the side of the road, so I had to walk back about 3/8 of a mile. This grist mill looked great on google search, but it turns out to be a fake that someone built at about half scale in a farm pond! Although I have to admit the photos look pretty good and gives the impression that it is larger than it really is. This is in Guildhall, Vermont, in the northeast corner.

I was always looking for red barns and found this one in northern New Hampshire.

The next photos are on Route 16 in New Hampshire heading south.

This is the entrance to a drive up Mount Washington which I did not do. This is what I call absolutely peak color for miles and miles on both sides of the road. I will always have these photos in mind as I think about driving down this road.

As I came into Conway, NH, I saw this nice red covered bridge along side the road. It turned out to be on a golf course!

The Jackson Covered Bridge is on the north side of Conway, NH.

The next morning it was raining, but that did not stop me from finding more covered bridges. In Conway town itself there are two more bridges. The first is the Saco River Bridge.

Next is the Swift River Bridge. I liked the nice red color and shows it was well maintained.