Dennis Dixon is heading North!: Scenic Highways & Byways: Maine & NH

Friday, July 19, 2019 - Today's blog is not a "mountain climbing blog" but a "scenic drives blog":

Hey - anybody with a "Road Trip" bumper sticker has to own at least one copy of this book!

It was a GREAT DAY for a scenic drive in New England:

I started by heading east from Rangeley, to a scenic overlook (where I had a nice phone chat with Wendy):

I continued around the lake to Rangeley Lake State Park:

At 7:45 AM, there were other people out-and-about:

Rangeley Lake is pretty nice in the morning light:

I continued around the lake onto Route 16 West (Route 16 runs East-West in Maine, but when you cross over into New Hampshire, it is 16 North-South), and stopped below the Aziscohos Lake dam,

at the head of Magalloway River:

To quote a local, when asked "Is the Magalloway River and Bear Brook the same body of water?":

"It’s the Magalloway River. Google maps has it wrong. I have no idea where the name Bear Brook came from but everybody calls it the Magalloway River from Canada to Umbagog. I live there and have been fishing the Aziscohos area for 30 years and have never heard a single person call it Bear Brook."

10 minutes later I'm driving alongside the river:

An hour later, in New Hampshire, it has become the Androscoggin River:

By now, I'm down in the heart of the Three Rivers Scenic Drive:

I drove down to Gorham, and continued east on Route 2, to get to the "North Road" in Shelburne, New Hampshire:

It is a nice road, and I'm glad I did it. Narrow in places.

I kept heading east on Route 2, and in Gilead, Maine turned right to go down MY NEW FAVORITE ROAD: Route 113:

It winds wonderfully along the Androscoggin River:

and crosses over the north-south divide at Evans Notch:

I continued down 113, through small towns and old cemeteries, eventually angling west to hook-up with Route 16 in Conway. Heading south on 16 on a Friday in the summer is a pleasure - not sure how it is for ALL THOSE PEOPLE in the northbound lane.