July 12, 2012
Worked a 9-12 shift and had a
steady but not overwhelming stream of visitors who wanted to hike the mountain
and reservations for the Bike/Foot race up the mountain in two weeks. That will be a fun weekend here.
Along with the couple from
Arizona who bicycled in and were staying here for the night, we have another
cycler here from Brattleboro. Today he
was out looking for fresh produce that hasn’t quite gotten here yet. He also took a hike and I saw him running up
the road to his campsite. High energy
guy!
We headed out of camp around
1:30 heading for Quechee, Vermont to view the deepest gorge in Vermont with the
Ottauuechee River flowing 165’ below the bridge.
The waterfall and pond above
served as power for the Mill located at the waterfall. That mill is now the Simon Pearce factory and
restaurant.
TS Irene caused incredible
flash flooding and we are seeing the aftermath a year later.
The Ottauquechee River surged
over its banks with an incredible force.
I watched some of the UTUBE video taken around the area during the storm
and subsequent flooding. The river tore
through the old mill that houses the Simon Pearce shop damaging the furnaces
downstairs in the factory.
Half of the gray
covered bridge connecting the businesses to Route 4 was torn in half. We had to detour around to get to the village
of Quechee.
Quechee Gorge with the rushing
ribbon of water 165 feet below the bridge became a pool full of half-submerged
trees from Irene.
We stopped to take pictures
and visited Quechee State Park which is beautiful. Decided to come back and hike when it was
cooler and earlier in the day. Had a
great conversation with Marsha who is a volunteer host there. She is from Asheville NC and Mt Dora Florida
so we had lots in common.
Quechee is definitely a “return
to” place and we’ll do it soon. I
understand in the fall you can’t get near it.
Imagine this gorge with the fall colors.
Unbelievable!
This covered bridge is a non authentic Stringer truss with
simulated Town lattice truss. The first Quechee
Bridge No 1 was built in 1868 with multiple Kingpost truss. It was replaced by Quechee Bridge No. 2 in
1885. An iron bridge followed in 1920
and this bridge probably replaced the iron bridge in 1970. This is funny…..it’s the widest non authentic
covered motor vehicle bridge in Vermont.
When Quechee was being developed the steel bridge was covered with a
simulated Town Lattice truss.
Vermont is serious about their covered bridges. It
appears in the literature and is on the list of Vermont covered bridges. It’s a shame what the storm did to this
bridge and the town is in the process of getting it rebuilt.
Took Quechee-Hartland Road back and as it wound through the beautiful countryside that is Vermont we could see Mt Ascutney in the distance like a homing beacon.
IT WAS A GREAT DAY!
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