We started today by having a quick walk round Stowe village as we haven’t don’t so yet, there isn’t actually much to it but as the sun was out it was very nice, it was then time to jump in the car and do a couple of the scenic drives around the county, we had created a route that would hopefully go round a number of the 100 or so covered bridges in Vermont as well as take in some of the scenery which around here is spectacular. We found 10 bridges in the end, the first was a bit difficult to find and didn’t seem to have a name but was near the town of Irasburg, it was built in 1881. Next we passed through a lot of wonderful scenery and the trees in this area seem to have changed to a golden colour rather than the red synonymous with the New England fall. We stopped at Lake Eden as we could get to the waters edge, before long it was lunch time so we went to Long pond where we had a great view over the lake, but the colours here were not as impressive as they had been earlier, having said that we are quite a long way north, we decided we are probably less than 20 miles from the Canadian border! We then found a series of bridges that were all built by the Jewett Brothers, Sheldon an dSavanard. We visited Hutchin Bridge – 1883, Comstock Bridge – 1883, Fuller Bridge – 1890 and Hopkins bridge – 1875, it is said because of these brothers Montgomery became the covered bridge capital of Vermont. From here we went to Morgan Bride – 1871 then Montgomery Bridge which you can actually walk under, the river wasn’t running very fast but I am sure in the spring fall it runs quite wild. We had three left on our list which were Griffin Road bridge, Cambridge Junction Bridge which was also known as Poland Bridge after Judge Poland who brought a legal case to make sure it was built, unfortunately he died before it was finished so he didn’t see it. The locals had petitioned against it being built as they didn’t believe it gave them any benefits but they knew they would have to pay for it thought their taxes! This is next to where a railway line once was, but it was probably the unluckiest station as the buildings burn during a fire which couldn’t be put out due to the -35 degree temperature at the time and the remaining buildings were flooded when a month of rain fell over three days and caused the buildings to be under a foot of water. Finally we went to Brewster Park Bridge, this was near a Grist Mill which has caused the bridge to be called, Canyon – because it is on Canyon road, Grist – because of the bridge or Bryan Bridge but very little else is know about it even when it was built. Finally we drove back across Smuggles Notch a mountain pass in Lamoille County, its name comes from activities precipitated by a request of President Thomas Jefferson to prevent American involvement in the Napoleonic Wars, the Embargo Act forbade American trade with Britain and Canada, this caused great hardship for Vermonters who continued the illegal trade with Canada. It was also used by fugitive slaves as an escape route to Canada. The route was improved in 1922 which provided a route for liquor to be brought in from Canada during the Prohibition years. From where we drove back to the apartment to have a relax before going out for something to eat.
