Day 52
Miles: 44
Mileage from start: 4,336
I have been dreaming of a particular day ever since Washington state. It goes thusly: We leave the farm after a bit of a lie in and a big breakfast. We bike up the Connecticut River to NH route 25 C. Just before we start the climb up route 118 to Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, we stop at Moose Scoops ice cream in Warren.
That was the dream. And that’s exactly what we did.
We slept well following the afternoon of storms and woke up to a tail-wagging Beagle looking for morning pets.
Breakfast was sautéed vegetables, fried eggs and toast. I seriously thought that breakfast would fuel me all the way to ice cream, but I barely made it to the next town north before my stomach was rumbling. Too much fiber, too few calories.
We took our time packing up and didn’t start north until after 10 a.m. We rode past multiple parties out with their chain saws cleaning up after the storm.
The weather was sunny but not overly warm.
We chose 25C as our route to the lodge specifically because it was the most recently paved of our options. Having driven it in May, we hoped it was still in good shape, and it certainly was.
We stopped for a photo at the spot where the Appalachian Trail crosses route 25C. And that’s when Richard noticed how low his front tire was. We used our last new tube and promised ourselves we would patch the bad tubes when we got to the lodge. The leaks we so slow that neither of us could hear them or feel them. These leaks would require dunking them into the Baker River to see where the air was coming out.
Only a couple of miles later we were at Moose Scoops enjoying our fuel.
The climb up to the lodge from Warren is about 6 miles and relatively flat until the second half. It was a warm day and each patch of shade we rode through was welcome.
Richard made it to the access road first.
“Do you need a break?” he asked as I creasted the rise.
“I want to get this over with,” I said and kept biking past even though I was thirsty.
The access road is another 1.5 miles, up, with gravel. I was ready to have the hill behind me.
We came upon the lodge road full of cars. Weekends at the lodge are usually busy as many hikers come to climb Mt. Moosilauke. This year, however, is busier because in September the lodge is being torn down and replaced with a new lodge. Lots of people are coming back this summer for a final visit before things change. We only barely got our reservation in on a Sunday night.
We bathed in the Baker River and found the holes in our tubes. We ate a hearty lodge dinner with old friends. And we slept in a new bunkhouse all to ourselves. 
