I did no biking or blogging yesterday, 7/13, which was Day 14 of this trip, but spent a good part of the day working with Trudi and my sister Karen to find a place to stay tonight after a ride from Lincoln to Haverhill, NH. Until mid-afternoon yesterday, it looked like I would need to camp tonight at a campground in North Haverhill where I was wait-listed for a cabin, but then we found an inn in Haverhill known as the Deep Sleep Inn that bills itself as New Hampshire’s “First Dead and Breakfast,” providing a “creepy place to sleep, eat, and explore.” The proprietors are Gabby and Sam, and they are still in the process of refurbishing the place, which they say is only about “half open” right now. The inn is located in an old house that was a stagecoach inn in the 19th century and that apparently was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

When I booked the room, Gabby explained that they purchased the place in 2021 for a B&B and have chosen sort of an Edgar Allan Poe theme for it. She wanted to make sure I was comfortable with that. “Sure,” I said, thinking that this sounded a lot better than sleeping in a tent. The place is filled with antiques and has a rather interesting decor, very dark and foreboding, with lots of art depicting things like skulls and witchcraft. The wifi network is “Sleep Paralysis” and the password is something equally sinister. I’ll let you know how well I sleep tonight!

The towels in my bathroom.

I expected today’s ride to include a hard climb to the Appalachian Trail, but I thought it would be quite a bit easier than the Kanc. It turned out to be equally hard, though maybe not as long. It seemed that the climb was a lot steeper, and then after a long downhill on the other side of the Appalachian Trail pass, when I began thinking the hard work of the day was over, I was treated to quite a few more hills, often quite steep, on my way to Haverhill. I rode about 32 miles. My room at the Deep Sleep is on the second floor, so I needed to unload all my bags and carry them up before bringing up my bike, which would be too heavy to carry with all the bags on it.

I thought you might be interested in a few photos I took from the road once I got out of Lincoln and the next town to the west, North Woodstock.

Near the point the road intersects with the Appalachian Trail, there is a memorial to a U.S. Army Air Corps B-18A bomber that crashed nearby in January 1942. Miraculously, five of seven of the crewmen survived the crash, thanks in large part to a search party that was organized within hours of the crash, braving minus 25 F. temps to find the survivors and promptly get them the medical attention they needed.

I was a bit surprised at how innocuous and overgrown the Appalachian Trail looked at this point. It seems to me that it would be easy for hikers to lose the trail and get off course.

There is not much in Haverhill these days–no stores or restaurants–but there are a number of old buildings from an era when there was a lot more activity in the area. I tagged along with Sam to a grocery store in Bradford, VT, about a 15-minute drive from here, where I loaded up with some food for the next couple days. The Deep Sleep provides a breakfast “to die for,” but I am on my own for other meals.

There is an 80% chance of rain this weekend and I am thinking I may stay here for a couple days. Both Sam and Gabby and a couple of the other guests I’ve met are very nice folks and it has been fun to get to know them better. I will tell you more about the town tomorrow. For now, it’s time to get some sleep…I hope.