We left White Birches Campground early and drove back to Bethel, Maine and the DiCocoa Bakery for coffee and a bit of breakfast. If you are ever in the neighborhood stop by DiCocoa bakery. You won’t be disappointed. While we were there Diane set the route we were going to take to Stowe, Vermont and the Gold Brook Campground.
This was a very, very scenic route. First we drove west back toward New Hampshire and State Hwy 113. State Hwy 113 south goes through the White Mountain National Forest. This road was narrow with not much traffic. In many places and for quite a while the trees and their fall colors covered the roadway. We stopped many times and took photos. As I have said before, the photos are nice but nothing like being there.
State Hwy 113 took us to Stow, Maine then we took Hurricane Mountain Rd. over the Hurricane Mountain pass and down to North Conway, New Hampshire. This road was not in the White Mountain National Forest and while not as colorful as State Hwy 113 was even narrower and steeper, but also very beautiful. There were hiking trails scattered along the route. We guessed this was a secret spot for locals.
After this we took US Hwy 302 west back into the White Mountain National Forest and through the Crawford Notch. This part of our drive was very well known for its fall colors and there were many cars to prove it. I think we were there for the peak of the colors on this drive. The only bummer was that there were low clouds on some of the peaks. Again, photos give you an idea, but you have to see this sometime.
After we were down from the mountains we made our way to Stowe, Vermont and our campground. The beauty didn’t end in New Hampshire but it was almost oh ho-hum another beautiful vista, and look another one.
After we checked in we drove to the Rock Art Brewery up the road about 10 miles from Stowe. Rock Art Brewery is a family business and they only offer tastings at the brewery. They brew a lot of styles of beer. Diane and I tasted each of the 8 beers they were showcasing that day bought some to take home and of course we also bought t-shirts.
We stopped at the Stowe Public House and Bottle Shop for a drink before dinner then went to a Thai Restaurant for dinner. We rated our dinner average on our Thai Restaurant scale. We went back to the campground and called it a day.
Awesome pics!!