Thanks to the operable motel room window, the cool night air helped us sleep well. After packing our gear and eating the modest motel breakfast, we rode through Ticonderoga to the ferry. After a 10 minute wait (mostly spent petting Rosie, a golden retriever), we boarded the ferry with two pickups and chugged a quarter mile across Lake Champlain. We disembarked in Vermont and headed east on Hwy 74 with moderate ups and downs, past dairy farms and a few sad-looking corn fields.
Vermont seemed tidier and cleaner than New York. In Middlebury, we rode past Middlebury College and purchased breakfast at a deli. I got my glasses repaired and we got infusions of cash. After buying food for lunch, we headed south on US Hwy 7 for 6 miles, then we rode east on Hwy 125 toward Middlebury Gap- a gain of 1,700 ft. of elevation. Some stretches of the road were extra steep, but we labored on. We passed by Bread Loaf, a satellite campus of Middlebury College. After passing Snow Bowl, a Middlebury College ski hill, we reached the gap- then we zipped downhill for 5 miles to Hancock!
We ate lunch on the front porch of a sandwich shop. The last 21 miles of the day followed the White River as it descended to Bethel. There was lots of traffic but usually a good shoulder. In Bethel we checked into the Nestle Inn B&B. After showers, we ate once more at a pizza restaurant because a car had run into the town’s grocery, closing the store. I feel especially tired. Hopefully, a long rest tonight will give me the energy for an even harder day tomorrow.
7/18/19 - Ticonderoga, NY to Bethel, VT: 75.1 miles
