NH Covered Bridge Challenge............ Takes on New England!: 23 Bridges in One Day! (part 1 of 5)

Ellen and I decided to take advantage of our nation's birthday with some good clean fun. Our goal was to visit 21 bridges, but came with directions to 24, just in case. This time around we were ready. After a planning session, we had detailed directions, a newly formed bridge binder, a well marked New Hampshire road map, and a borrowed GPS that we never had to use.
We packed a lunch and left the house by 6:40am. Once coffees were in hand, we left in the morning drizzle to Campton.
Blair (#41) 7:10am

Exit 27 is the Blair Bridge exit, so it is much easier to find than some of our other attempts.

This is another bridge that was damaged by arson. It was lit on fire by a man named Lem Parker who claimed that God told him to do it. He confessed, but was not found guilty because there were no witnesses. It was rebuilt to guarantee that a local doctor could cross the river.

This is our first bridge with a double arch. Notice that the "X" in the middle of the arch is brand new. Sections of the bridge are being repaired.

There are also electrical wires running alongside this bridge. It not only blocks the view, but seems unsafe.

This side has a much nicer view.

It was early in the morning, but that didn't stop Ellen from climbing on things.

Be careful! This bridge has a low clearance.

This bridge has large open windows and was very well lit, even in the rain.

It spans the Pemigewasset and was built in 1869 for $1,000. It also has a five dollar fine, so take it easy.

Being the first bridge of the day we took a ton of photos, but as the day progressed we found that it takes us about 10 minutes to document a bridge visit.

Bump (#43) 7:30am

The Bump was first built in 1877, but the current bridge was constructed at 1972.

It was near a pasture with cows and a sandy river.

It has a Queenpost truss.

The Graton name appeared on many of the covered bridges in the area. It appears that they helped rebuild many of New Hampshire's bridges in the 1970s.

Turkey Jim (#42) 7:53am

The Turkey Jim was a bridge that was located on the Branch Brook Campground. It was destroyed by ~~Hurricane~~ Tropical Storm Irene in August of 2011. We are not sure how the official New Hampshire Covered Bridge website is maintained, but we have noticed that many of the bridge descriptions were outdated. This bridge is still listed as being an active pedestrian and snowmobile crossing.

If you go to visit, there are piles of debris everywhere.

There is not much to say here. The pictures speak for themselves. We were pretty depressed when we left. We hope that they rebuild.

A new bridge stands in its place, but it's not the same.

Jack O'Lantern (E) 8:17am

Next we headed to our first "unrecognized" bridge. We wondered what made a bridge "official number" worthy, but now that we have seen this one, we have some theories.

Theory one: this bridge does not appear to be built in the style of traditional covered bridges.
It is a tourist attraction on a golf course, more specifically hole 18.

We parked at hole 18 and took a walk to the bridge. Not sure if that was okay, but since it was 8:17am on a rainy day, we made a run for it.

This bridge may look like an official bridge from a distance, but it is very tiny.

Theory two: it seems like it belongs on a miniature golf course.

The roof is low, so be careful with your golf carts!

Extreme Caution!

Cute bridge for golfers and children, but an official covered bridge it is not.

Clark's (#64) 8:36am
Clark's Trading Post is right down the road. We got there at about 8:30am, so it wasn't open, which made walking around a fence onto their property that much easier.

We parked at the end of the parking lot and walked into what seemed to be a staff trailer area. We followed the railroad tracks to the Clark's.

Since this is an active railroad bridge and there was a danger sign, we did not walk through this bridge. This is the only active Howe railroad bridge left in the world.