Welcome

to my bikepacking blog!

New Hampshire Gravel Adventure – August 5th – August 6th, 2023

We rose very early Saturday morning (3:30am) and met along the way at park-and-ride in Willington, CT. I transferred everything into Chris’s car and off we went. It was still dark outside, and I felt a little groggy as I took Benadryl the evening before to help me sleep. We were ready after 9am and started pedaling onto a road which led us to a rail trail and then a single track along the river.

From there we found ourselves on a double-track and overgrown trail, which led to a gravel road with beautiful views. We stopped from time to time to filter water.

On mile 46 we spotted a creamery. There were no people working there, but we’ve noticed a note on a wall informing us about payments through Venmo or cash. I picked up a wrap, pasta salad and a Coca Cola. We were already hungry as the climbing was never ending. And I packed pasta salad for later.

It was a smart decision to eat so early, as the route became more challenging treating us to steep climbs on gravel road that seemed to never end. I was questioning my life (trip) choices. ‘Why do I have to always pick challenging routes to ride?’ I voiced this to Chris and he laughed at me. I had some shifting issues and Chris helped me with it. It seemed to be the limit screw adjustment issue. I would never think about that. Thanks to him I was able to climb, but deep inside I thought that it didn’t help much (these climbs were really steep). I even fell over on one of the climbs and scraped my knee. We were away from busy roads and it felt very tranquil.

Soon enough, short single track took us to the main road and we arrived at Waterville Valley. There was a small square with shops and what seemed like chocolate festival. Long line of people was waiting to get to the stand. We stopped at the small grocery shop and resupplied.

After that we quickly found ourselves on a narrow gravel road which led to a hike a bike and the Grilley Pond. We spotted a perfect place for camping in front of it. We hesitated not sure, if we can find a better spot or we should continue. The next day, we found out that our decision was right. The view for my pasta salad dinner was amazing and we even washed off in the pond. We rode 65 miles and climbed 7,100 feet that day. We were definitely tired, but spent sitting by the lake and talking till it got dark and we heard first mosquito.

The next day, we ate and started hiking with the bikes. It was really not possible to ride. We dragged our bikes over huge boulders and roots. It was definitely a hiking trail.

Finally, after couple miles, we reached a paved road and we started climbing it for what seemed like forever. I was grateful that we climbed on the pavement and not on gravel. The views were astounishing and soon we arrived at the highest point of the Kancamagus Highway.  From there we started descending, which felt chilly.

We almost missed a turn into a trail, which wasn’t easy at first but soon it became easier. I really liked this trail as it was flat and very beautiful.

After that, we were on the road again climbing, and then of course on gravel.

We met two other bikepackers who were riding the shorter loop from bikepacking.com website. We talked to them for a little bit and then passed them and continued up, up, up, and then on a very long down. It was a blast. From there we were riding on the rail trail and decided to take the road the rest of the way as we were running out of time. We had four hour drive back home.

Route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34058193