7 September 2013 - Kingdom Trails VT
And then we arrived in a closed state park .... Actually we left the Diamond Ponds and headed towards Vermont and a state park named Maidstone on Maidstone Lake. We entered the information into the GPS and it sent us on the shortest route which looked just fine with good roads and even according to the map it should have worked all except for one hitch. The bridge across the Connecticut River (the state line between Vermont and New Hampshire) was a covered bridge that we were too heavy to cross.

Sitting in New Hampshire
wondering how to get to Vermont

Easy walk to Vermont but there
Merlin sits still in New Hampshire while I am
in VT taking his picture

Due to that little snag we headed further down the NH side and finally came to a place we could cross a "regular" bridge. We arrived at Maidstone State Park shortly thereafter to find a sign on the office that said "Closed! See you next season." BUT the gate wasn't closed and it sure wasn't locked and there was no where it said we couldn't stay so we figured maybe it was like National Forest campgrounds that we could stay in even with no amenities. We found a real nice campsite - we were the only ones there so it wasn't real hard - and set up camp. Trox went for a paddle on the lake while I went to see if the bathrooms were open. WELL, not only were they open they had flush toilets and HOT water and showers! Sure didn't seem like a closed park to me! Trox got back from his paddle and while I started dinner he went and had a nice hot shower. Next morning we got up and had breakfast and I went for a paddle. While I was gone the maintenance/caretaker person came by and talked to Trox. First words out his mouth were. "Parks closed. Didn't you see the sign". Well, Trox is good at playing dumb and so said we saw a sign saying office was closed but since gate wasn't down we figured it was okay and after all we're from Utah and rules are different there. The guy ended up to be really nice and when Trox told him as soon as I got back we would leave he said we could stay for the day. I got back before the guy left and we all had a nice chat. He left and we broke camp and also left. One of the things he told us about was a state park a little to the north that we would enjoy.

Maidstone Lake on my paddle

Maidstone Lake on Trox' paddle

These little guys were everywhere
Like the residents competed to have the best
Made of Stone on Maidstone lake

We left the Maidstone area and headed toward Gorham NH. I had blown the keyboard on my laptop and we needed a Walmart so I could buy an external and Gorham NH was the closest we could find. Near Gorham is Moose Brook State Park. We had stopped there on our way to Maine back in May and decided this time to spend the night. Trox got a nice couple of rides there as they have some nice single track. He encountered a bear on one of the roads!

Leaving there we headed back into Vermont to the park the guy at Maidstone mentioned and this time we didn't have as much trouble getting across the river. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a little pond, Cedar Pond, where I paddled the perimeter in about 45 minutes. Our destination was Brighton State Park and it is also located on a small pond, Spectacle Pond, right near a larger body of water, Island Pond. We arrived in time to set up camp and for Trox to paddle. On the road to Brighton we stopped at a farm and bought fresh-out-of-the field sweet corn so we had fresh corn for dinner. We met a couple of mountain bikers camped next to us and they told Trox about Kingdom Trails which is a ski area with a large network of bike trails. That is where we are now and Trox is out riding. Before we left Brighton I paddled Spectacle Pond and it was like a mirror - my favorite!

Back in VT again heading for Brighton

Cedar Pond Lunch Break

Greenish Butterfly

A pond of mirror water