Day 98: Brattlesboro to Keene NH

September 6, 2021

Covered Bridges along the Ashuelot River

“I look forward to getting back on the trail,” Patrick says, then continues: “This has been hilly.”

Be careful for what you wish for…especially after there was rain all night.

There is fog in town while we are slowly packing up and eating breakfast. We say goodbye to Dot, she has been a terrific host. She lives just above the bridge crossing the Connecticut River, so we are quickly into New Hampshire. It is a couple of miles to the State Liquor Store that is the location where we will find the Fort Hill Recreation Trail. The trail is very quiet and not very well developed, but it leads through nice trees and mostly along the river.

We leave the trail at the boat launch and ride the old road through Hinsdale. Even though the start of the Ashuelot Trail is in town, we know this section is closed, so we stay on the road until we reach Recycle Road. The road is very hilly here, even though it follows a river. We are happy to get to the trail, but find it very wet, mostly single track and bumpy. But it is flat and away from traffic so we stick with it. There are a couple of covered bridges today that we go see, but most of our time is spent between the trees avoiding mud puddles.

We do not pass through any larger towns today, so we had bought our dinner supplies last night. For lunch we are always carrying plenty of stuff. Our goal is the Ashuelot River Campground about 5 miles south of Keene. It is a pretty place, but they don’t seem to have specific tent sites. So as a tenter you get power and water and a huge site, all for 47 dollars. A bit steep, but going on to Keene and probably spending double that for a cheap motel doesn’t really appeal either.

There are plenty of mosquitoes so we read for a while in the tent, rush back out to put the rainfly on when an unexpected rainstorm passes and fix spaghetti for dinner. The Wi-Fi does not extend to the where we are camping, but there is a comfortable reading room where we can catch up on this journal.

Tomorrow we go to Hillsborough on a route recommended by our Warmshowers Host in Concord.