Day 112: Bangor to Machias River Campground

September 20, 2021

The Airline Road, Route 9

“Sure seems like we’ve had more uphill than downhill today,” Patrick says. “We’ve had a lot of hills with passing lanes,” Rachel adds. Slower traffic keep right signs don’t bode well for cyclists.

As we cross the river out of Bangor, there is a light fog rising off the water. We have about 5 or 6 miles along the river before we start climbing away on Route 9: the Airline Road. “This is where all the trucks come in,” Patrick says as we are eating donuts and coffee at the road that goes directly to Ellsworth. The road until now has been with light traffic, a 3 foot wide shoulder with a good surface. This next section stays the same with increase truck traffic, until we reach a new county with construction on resurfacing the road. The asphalt goes only about one foot onto the old shoulder. Eventually though the really nice road returns.

After about 40 miles we stop at the Airline Snackbar and Campground where we had considered to stay for the night. Our other option would be to continue another 16 miles to a campground Patrick saw on I-Overlander. “We don’t allow tent camping anymore, when the rest room was closed at the rest area, we were told we could only have RVs,” says the owner. Guess that decision is made, we will continue on after having lunch.

There’s more construction and a very steep hill right after we leave the café. Our destination is a Maine Forestry Campground on the Machias River that has 6 sites with picnic tables. We reach the campground and take a site near the river. There are some items carried on a bike tour that are used rarely and appreciated when needed. The campground has a pit toilet and no toilet paper. Rachel has carried a roll of toilet paper in her front right pannier for 4300 miles, unused until now. There is one site with a lean-too, but it seems a bit claustrophobic. On a miserable wet day it would have seemed like a castle.

The river is beautiful, the water has a tea colored red hue and the trees are starting to show some color. We had burgers for lunch, so for dinner we make due with cheese, salami and peanut butter sandwiches. And, since we are camping again, a swig of Jamieson.

We talk about how much we have missed camping in places like this on this trip.