Grafton Notch & Height of Land

Making the most of our limited weekend days off Kate, Wesley, & I headed out Saturday the 1st of June for a day trip drive up through Grafton Notch and back down through Height of Land.  The route we took from home lead us through Monmouth and Leeds up to Rumford.  Once in Rumford we took route 2 until turning off on route 26 in Newry.

We stopped at the Puzzle Mountain Bakery to grab a couple sweet treats.  It's a roadside self service bakery stand that uses the honor system for payment.  Kate got a strawberry rhubarb pie that she said was delicious and I got a couple of there maple cream cookies. I've gotten them before and they are amazing! two maple cookies with this outstanding maple cream in the middle. They are only $1.50 which is a steal.

We had experiences some periods of rain, nothing major, on the drive and by the time we entered Grafton Notch State Park it had ended.  We decided to stop at Screw Auger Falls because there was only a couple vehicles there.

I'm glad we did because water was flowing well and Wesley really thought the waterfalls were really cool.  I like that you can walk down on the rocks with the water flowing right by you.  I managed to grab a few cool photos.

Continuing north we eventually crossed over into New Hampshire.  We stopped at the Errol General Store which opened 135 years ago.  Kate and I order sandwiches from the deli and they were tremendous.

You take a slip and check off what you want writing you name at the bottom of it.  They slice all the meats and cheeses in house.  I got turkey, provolone, mayo, tomatoes, pickles, and salt & pepper.  Kate got ham & cheese with all the veggies and this hot pepper jam mix that she thought was fantastic!

We went across the street to the school and ate out sandwiches on a bench while Wesley played.  He had been asking for chocolate & vanilla twist ice cream basically since we left the house so after we finished our lunch we drove down to LL Cotes and I was able to get him a kiddie cone with Gifford's hard serve chocolate & vanilla.  I also got Canaan a glass bottle of LL Cote soda.  The flavor was Yup, think 7up.

We've never gotten Wesley hard serve ice cream on a cone before and he's not fond of change so I wasn't sure how he'd react to it. This seemed to satisfy him and he excitedly powered down the ice cream like it was nothing.

We continued north now on Route 16 to head back into Maine.  On the way we drove through Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge.  We came around a bend and there on the shoulder of the road was good sized moose!  We were very excited because in all our trips we'd only seen a moose once before and we drive in the mountains and north country a lot.

I slowed right down but it went into the woods and we got to see it trot through the trees parallel to the road. It was super cool!

We crossed into Maine and a few miles in we came over a pass ahead of us in our lane was yet another moose!  This time we were able to see it really well as it crossed the road and we got a nice broadside look at it.  I tried to get some good pictures but they came out the way they came out.  Pretty cool seeing two moose in the same day not to far apart.

We made a pit stop in Rangeley were they had an even better playground for Wesley.  I had wanted to grab a drink and at first we weren't going to stop, but then Wesley asked for just 10 minutes on the playground.  Half hour later we were back in the van.

We took route 17 south to Height of Land, we hadn't been here in about four years.  It's a wonderful scenic overlook for information signs telling you about the area.  The Appalachian trail runs along here as well and they a really nice marker for it.

In Byron we stopped at Coos Canyon but the bugs were horrific so we quickly left.  We went back into Rumford and took the same route back home.  Kate's mom message that she was having chicken divan for supper and if we wanted to come over.  Of course we did!

It was a great day trip covering just over 230 miles total.  We got a few great sweet treats, some killer sandwiches, saw two waterfalls, two moose, and a wicked nice scenic overlook.  I'm hoping to be able to get in several day trips this summer, unlike last summer when we weren't able to because of my work.

Grafton Notch State Park

August 30^th marked the final day trip of the Summer for Kate and I.  With my schedule it’s hard for us to find the time for these adventures because it’s best to go on them on my second day off so I’m not tired all day.  Our next possibility is October 11^th after Canaan’s Football game.

On this day though we focused the majority of our trip at Grafton Notch State Park located in Oxford County not too far from the New Hampshire border.

Our first stop took us to Andover and Lovejoy Covered Bridge.  Along the way we found another windfarm, this one is I believe called Saddleback Windfarm.   I know some people don’t like the windmills and think they are eye sores, but Kate and I really find them neat.

Lovejoy Bridge was first constructed in 1868 in Andover spanning the Ellis River at 70 feet long it is the shortest covered bridge in Maine.  This is still an active bridge and we drove & walked across it which is what we do when we visit a unique bridge.  There was a group of girls getting their senior portraits taken.  The river was low and the banks were high and very sandy. 

We next traveled to Grafton Notch State Park with is located on Route 26.  The State Park is unique as a major route runs directly through the protected land and scenic spots on both side of the road.  We visited three of these places on this trip. 

Our first stop was Screw Auger Falls which features the Bear River running through a gorge featuring a series of drops leading to a 23 feet waterfall.  It’s very pretty here with several places you can sit and relax as well as a couple shallow pools to swim in.

Next was Mother Walker Falls, I read on line that it is a v shaped gorge 40 foot wide and 980 feet long that gradually descends 98 feet.  It wasn’t very impressive.

The final stop was Moose Cave which is a cave located in 45 foot deep canyon of bedrock that follows a 600 foot long gorge.  The cave was named for a moose that fell into the cave.  All three of these sights would be better to see during the spring thaw as without a good flow of water they are not much to look at.  They were all very nice though. 

 

There is a bakery on Route 26 in Newry called Puzzle Mountain Bakery that we stopped at on the way out of the park.  We picked up a couple whoopie pies and scratch made maple crème cookies.  Baked good and jams are located in a roadside booth with payment received down the driveway in an honor box located outside the actual bakery house.  

Kate got the standard chocolate whoopie, which she loved, I went with my favorite pumpkin.  The filling was the same for both, I’m not sure the make-up but it was good.  The Maple Crème cookies were good but sadly a couple were partially ruined in the cooler. 

On the Sunday River Road spanning 100 feet over the Sunday River is the Sunday River Bridge which was out next stop.  Built in 1872 this bridge is no longer open to traffic and is also known as the Artist’s Bridge. 

The river was also low here and we were able to go down onto the rocky floor. Kate put Wesley’s feet in the river and he was not please, not one bit!

Wesley was needing some time out of the car seat we stopped in Bethel at a spot on the river with picnic tables and a playground.  We spread out a blanket in the shade of some trees and fed the boy then letting him have some back time for about half an hour. 

We stopped at Snow Falls Gorge off Route 26 in South Paris as our last scheduled stop of the day.  Located a rest stop with a picnic area Snow Falls was named after Captain Jonathan Snow who was killed by St. Francis Indians in 1755. 

It was a great day we both really enjoy these day trips and I look forward to the next one.