About a week ago, in the middle of October I finally had a chance to travel somewhere by bike this year. Usually, I try to plan a short bike camping trip in the summer but this year was just so busy that summer was out of the question and even September was not an option. This left me with October as the last chance before temperature drops, rain comes, and winter darkness arrives. The destination this time was the northeastern part of Vermont and some places I have visited before.
October in New England is a very good option for bicycle travel and camping, of course. In fact, it's likely the best time. Not only air temperature is still decent (in fact, 50-70F or 10-20C is the best range for cycling), fall colors are gorgeous, and daylight still long-ish, but there are also no bugs, so exploring New England forests is finally enjoyable. I tried October camping a few years ago, and while it was sunny, I suffered at night. I remember the temperature dropped to just 30F (-1C) and it was too low to be comfortable in a thin summer sleeping bag.
This time I packed up a bit differently, placing a much warmer sleeping bag under the saddle. This meant my tent had to occupy most of the handlebar bag, leaving just a bit of space for clothes. On the other hand, I saved some space by not taking a cooking set. It's just not worth it for such a short trip, especially if staying near town overnight.
Packing up for October weather is a bit tricky because you never truly know what to expect. Nights can be freezing, mornings still very cold, while later in the day when the sun is up it could be almost a short sleeve weather. I checked the forecast, of course. Some rain was possible, but other than that it was supposed to be sunny, but windy.
In the end, it turned out that I overpacked. The tiny, packable waterproof windbreaker was not used, just like it was completely unnecessary to bring winter gloves along. I never used them. They are not heavy but took valuable space in the bag for the remainder of the trip. Other than that, things worked well. Weather was gorgeous and views lovely.
Day 1
I arrived in St Johnsbury, left the car at Park & Ride, and started my ride at 9:30am. It was warmer than expected and after climbing a few hills I had to take off a couple of layers and stuff them in the handlebar bar. Initially, I thought my tempo was somewhat slow but I was steadily making progress and there was no need to rush anywhere. After climbing the highest elevation of the day on New Duck Pond Rd I decided to stop briefly for lunch (a sandwich that I packed with me). And that's where I found this:
The real black bear paw, lying in the middle of the road! Completely puzzled, I tried to figure out what exactly had happened there. It looked new and recently cut off. My best guess is that since it's apparently legal to hunt bears in Vermont, it was probably a trophy, cut off by a hunter that perhaps later fell off the bed of his pickup truck (The paw, I mean. Not the hunter). At least that's what I think. I don't have a better theory at this point.
On the way to Newport I stopped briefly at the Old Stone House Museum (just to see it from the outside) and eventually arrived at my campsite quite early - just before 4pm. The Pine Hill Rd just south of Newport turned out to be slightly disappointing. I mean it has nice views, but it's fully paved now. I have a photographic evidence that it was unpaved back in 2016. Too bad - we lost a nice gravel road then. I will have to look for an alternative route between Barton and Newport the next time.
I stayed at Prouty Beach Campground, which may not be a budget option ($38 for a tent per night), but on the other hand it offers some of the best situated camping spots in the area. Not only they are placed away from the RVs and motorhomes, right by the lake's waterfront where you can enjoy beautiful sunsets, but they all have power outlets available, and even... a wi-fi! I certainly was not expecting a wi-fi connection right from my sleeping bag.
The night was surprisingly warm for mid October upstate (45F or 7C) so it was all very cozy inside the warmer sleeping bag. The main issue turned out the be the wind.
Day 2
I woke up at 6am and could not stay asleep any longer. As it turned out it rained at night, even quite heavily at times, but surprisingly, the bike and tent were almost completely dry in the morning. All because of the 40mph winds from the lake. It was so crazy windy that for the moment I thought my tent was going to take off. It didn't, but folding it and packing up properly was absolutely impossible. I packed up my bags, unhooked the tent and fly from the tent poles and carried everything inside the bathroom facilities. Only there, shielded from wind, I could properly fold everything up and place it inside the bags on bike.
I left campground at 7:30am and made my way north, on the bike path that runs on the east side of the Lake Memphremagog. The lake looked absolutely wild that morning. More like a sea, in fact. I kept going alongside the Canadian border and eventually reached Morgan Country Store to finally grab a hot egg & bacon sandwich to bite. Weather was actually still very nice for this time of the year, a bit cooler than the day before and with much stronger wind, of course. At least the wind from northwest was basically pushing me forward the entire morning.
I continued downhill to Lyndonville and then after a few more climbs I arrived back at St Johnsbury around 4pm.
Generally, it was fun. I really like bike touring in October. This year we got totally spoiled though. Essentially, since the 3rd week of August until now (and still going) we are having a streak of perfect weather - warm but not hot, sunny with little rain, and with those lovely fall colors. You could travel around New England for 2 months straight and likely not have enough. Let's hope the next year will also be like this.
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