Old or new?

After all of the drama in Franklin, finding our 14th and 15th bridges were a walk in the park. We went to the Squam River (#65) and the Smith Millennium (#44).  Both are fairly new bridges, but have NH Historical numbers.  I did learn today that in order to be in the National Register of Historic Places, they must be 50 years old.  I am still not sure how NH registers its bridges.

We left Franklin and headed to Little Squam in Ashland.  This was an easy find. Well marked and right off the main road, this bridge was uneventful compared to the adventure in Franklin.

It is fairly small with a sidewalk on one side.

This is the first bridge we have seen that is near a lake.  It was really pretty with Little Squam on one side and a marina on the other side.

Gorgeous day!

It was cute and easy to walk through.  Pretty standard bridge at this point.  It has a nice history.  This bridge was built in 1990.  A previous bridge needed replacing. The state wanted a two lane steel bridge, but the town of Ashland and the historical society raised money for this one lane bridge.  It cost $200,000 and well worth it in my opinion!

On our way north to the Smith Millennium (#44), a bridge that has been a part of my life for as long I can remember.

 
Five bridges have crossed the Baker River in this location.  The last one burnt down in a fire on April 16,1993.This new bridge was built in 2001. 

This bridge has a swimming hole beneath it that my parents, aunts, and uncles swam in when they were younger.  My aunt jumped off the Smith back in the day.

Rope swing

This is the first bridge that we have been able to walk under.  The water was really low after the hot week we had.

We will be back here soon too.

Another reason why this might be my favorite bridge is the truss on this one.  Another arch!

Summer is here.   :)

So when you guys come up with something...

This week school finished up for us teachers, so it was time to find three more bridges.  We figured that we could do the three bridges off of exit 20, 24, and 26 before heading up north on Friday night.  This was a good plan, until we hit Franklin...


Ellen and I seem to be pretty comfortable hunting bridges without a map or GPS.  We have a very vague NH Tourism Map, a list of bridges, and a smart phone that doesn't always get reception.  After this weekend's adventure we plan on changing our routine up.  I plan on purchasing: a GPS, a New Hampshire road map, and a binder to keep notes and research in when I cannot access the files on my phone.  We will also do a better job telling our mothers exactly where we are headed.

...back to Friday night. The Sulphite (#62) is an upside down railroad covered bridge in the woods of Franklin.  The website I found for it had vague directions which included "parking behind a car wash near the hospital sign."  It then instructed us to find a dirt path that would lead us to the bridge .3 or so miles into the woods.  The directions also said that we could take a left onto River Rd.  This is strange, because the car wash in Franklin is no where near River Rd. Another website said that we could park at Trestle View Park, but we didn't see that anywhere.

Behind the car wash in Franklin there was a set of jersey barriers.  It was getting dark and we didn't feel like going into the woods in the semi-dark without confirming that this was the spot. So we drove to River Rd.  We freaked ourselves out.  There were people staring at us like we didn't belong.  We even saw a creepy woman dressed in all black who seemed to disappear.  (according to Ellen there was also a boy who had no nose).  Weird.

It was getting darker and darker.  The people on the streets seemed to get creepier and creepier.

At this point I said to Ellen, "We don't have to find #13 tonight."  Ellen screeched, "It's number #13!"

***

We decided to return in the light of day with back-up.  This back-up came in the form of our Anonymous Chaperone (AC).

After waking up at 6am, we left for the bridge.   The AC got into the car and said two things upon entering.  1. Looks like someone's a hobo drifter. (in response to Ellen's car) and a little later, 2. So when you guys come up with something, you take it way too far.

We parked again behind the car wash and walked into the woods.  I think I will let Ellen tell you why that was the WRONG path.  Never go to a car wash and walk into the woods....

So we gave up for the day.  We came up with the great idea that we would come back with more back-up.  We would come back with a whole group of people and a GPS and find this.  It would not matter how sketchy anything was.  We would find "Trestle View Park" and this bridge even if it took all summer.

Then the AC said, "Is that it?"

We said, "No!  That is not a covered bridge!"

 

but it turns out that you have to walk under that bridge to get to the covered bridge.  So, thank you, AC, for inadvertently finding the Sulphite (#62).

If you are looking for the Sulphite (#62), park next to the giant wheel and cross the street. 

Note: I think it is ridiculous that none of the directions we found mentioned a GIANT wagon wheel.

Walk under this bridge.

Take the very clean and maintained path. We saw flowers and even a little turtle.  Turns out there is nothing scary about Franklin.

Ellen and the AC at the sign for the bridge. It was hard to see from the sign:

Can you see it?

We then saw bushes so overgrown that we couldn't see the bridge at all from the path.  Ellen and I prepared to bushwhack our way to the view of the bridge, until the AC said, "Why don't you just take this path...."

So we took the path. 

The Sulphite (#62) is upside down.  The train tracks are on the "roof" of the bridge.  This is the first bridge that we did not walk across.  It was damaged by arson in 1980 and is not structurally sound.  It was built in 1896 to bring sulphur to the paper mills down river.

We couldn't walk across, but that didn't stop us from taking pictures at the end of the bridge that was still on land.

Ellen could climb on this bridge, so she leaned over the support beams.

So did the AC.

What was all that fuss about?

Bridge #13, The Bridge that Almost Wasn't...

With the taste of summer we decided to hit up a few bridges on a muggy Friday night.  This time, we headed north!

With the plan to spend the night in the Plymouth Area, we loaded the car and were prepared to check three bridges off the list while the daylight lingered on these long summer days.

We headed to Franklin, with all the possibilities that summer had to offer.  Little did we know that there were too many possibilities for one night.  With the daylight weaning, we reached Franklin and were very impressed by the beautiful statues and landscaping of downtown Franklin.  As we narrowed in on our search, my co-pilot read that we needed to park behind the carwash at the end of the hill and we would see a dirt trail.  We found the carwash and the trail.  Although, there were no signs telling us that we had reached our destination.  The ever vigilant navigator, also told me that we would have to walk .3 miles in the woods.  Using our resources, Natalie found alternate directions that suggested River Road would help us reach our destination.  We left the carwash and continued on.

As we rounded the bend, a group of Franklin residents left their porches to come and greet us in the road.   Continuing down the road, we passed a pale woman dressed in black, standing on the side of the road.  This is the moment when I was reminded that this was dun, dun duuuun...BRIDGE 13!  Natalie and I continued to drive and about 2 minutes later, Natalie said, " Umm...Ellen."  I told her I knew what she was thinking and agreed that it was time to go home and turn the car around.  The woman in black had disappeared.  As we continued our retreat, there was a young boy waiting for the bus at twilight.  We continued on to our accommodations for the evening.  As we were driving, Natalie texted (we strictly enforce a no texting while driving policy) our Anonymous Chaperone.  She informed this individual that we needed back up to tackle Bridge #13.  From this point on the Anonymous Chaperone will be referred as as the AC.

We hit the road at 6:15.  We thought that if we started early, we would have plenty of daylight (and little interaction with our Franklin Friends).  Natalie's family had my license plate, make, and model should anything happen to us.  We pulled up to the the car wash and looked at the dirt trail from the night before.  I quickly assured the car that I was 91% sure that we were in the right location.

This is the gate that welcomed us after the Jersey barriers to the renamed JS Memorial Trail.

We spotted a roof, so we knew that we were coming close and were sure we were in the right place.  Instead we found this:

We persevered...

Although, we started to have second thoughts...

...but not enough to stop our trek.

The trail suddenly ended.  So, nervous and confused we turned around.

This is the AC asking if this is the Covered Bridge we are looking for.  Shortly after this picture, he heard someone cough so we high-tailed it out of there.

This is Natalie safe and sound on the other side of the Jersey Barrier.  This is all in a day's work as a blogger.

After a self guided tour of Franklin and after the AC pointed out the actual trail we found the Sulfite Bridge.

Here is a friend we made along the way on the beautiful trail.

Here is the "well hidden" upside covered bridge.

Covered Bridge Pose!

More accurate upside down bridge pose for the Sulfite!

Benched Bloggers!  Don't worry, it wasn't the end of our day!

Procrastination is the Highest Form of Flattery!

With so much to do at the end of the school.  Natalie and I made the responsible decision to take a break from checking off or to do list and spend our free time hunting for more bridges.  And hunt them we did!

We headed West on 101.  We took a brief detour to my school to pick up the directions that I had left behind.  Looking back, it was probably an unneeded item.

As we travelled along Route 10, a friendly brown sign with white lettering appeared pointing out Bridge #6.  After a few windy hills, we easily came across the Cresson.

The Cresson is also known as Sawyer's Crossing.

Do the Covered Bridge at Sawyer's Crossing!

I like the way was shining through the bridge.  It's kind of like light at the end of the tunnel! Quickly, we got into the car, because we were losing daylight.  We continue traveling down Route 10. Another, brown sign popped up showing us the way. 

The Thompson Bridge (AKA the West Swanzey Bridge)

More information about the Thompson.

Me on the Thompson.

The view from the Thompson's sidewalk.  

Again, very easy to find the well labelled next bridge.

Bridge #1!!!

There are many rules on the Ashuelot Bridge.  Gotta love the red roof!

This bridge appears in the world wide registry!

We're #1!

A blogger's work is never done.  Notice the headlights that I was not warned about until much later...

Another fun fact on our tour of the state.  Trying to be artistic by including the map's reflection.  This was right before we saw a bear.

Natalie soaking in the grandness of nature!

Natalie and the Carleton Bridge.  What a view!  This is my favorite bridge to date.  It was so clean and fresh.  It could have been the beautiful sunset that swayed my opinion.  

Once night fell, I stopped documenting our bridges with the camera.  Plus, I was too busy running from the coyote with tags to take pictures.

It proved to be a great adventure leading into summer vacation!