Tuesday June 4th - Lake George, NY - unguided tour of 4 High Vermont Gaps – 292 miles

Not being fans of pack riding, we had decided to sign up for an unguided tour when booking for Americade, and ‘4 Vermont High Gaps’ seemed like fun. The actual route given to us with our registration package was about 200  miles, with lunch at the Lilac Inn in Brandon, Vermont. So off we rode, with a decent day weather-wise, dry but cool. From Lake George we headed north on NY-9N for about 60 miles, running along the west side of Lake George, until we reached NY-185 to cross the Champlain Bridge into Vermont. 

Champlain Bridge connecting New York and Vermont

 

Many resorts and motels were scattered along this road, and it was surprising how many riders were obviously staying this far out of town. Picking up VT-17E, we continued into the Appalachians, and the weather became very cloudy and cool, hinting at rain, but we stayed dry. The scenery was much like that of eastern mountains, hills and forested. It reminded me in some ways of last year’s ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some hills and bends, but fairly easy riding. We then climbed through the Appalachian Gap, with tighter turns, some quite tight, made more difficult by the condition of the road. One had to be careful of bumps and holes, the bike bottoming out a few times, the bike could be thrown wide on a tight bend. 

Appalachian Gap

It was over the gap, downhill with tight turns, and then onto VT-100S. This was quite stressful as the road had been ripped up for some 20 miles for repairs, so we rode on dirt and stones. Once through this area the surface was very uneven, holes and cracks until we reached VT-125W, over the Middlebury Gap and then on to Brandon for lunch at the Lilac Inn.

Brandon, Vermont

Lilac Inn:

 The Inn was built in 1908, and still retains its charm, with many rooms furnished in an older style. Lunch was taken and we then headed south on VT-100S again. Heading south we missed the next turn off, and ended up  many miles further south. No problem, we switched on the GPS, and wound our way back to Lake George. Our detour turned out to be quite scenic, although about 50 miles longer than planned.

It would seem the term Gap is what we refer to as a Pass out west.

Map of the intended route - not exactly what we rode, but what the hell...

So after the ride we returned to the motel, then headed into Lake George Village.

Some photos from the evening: