Covered Bridges of Vermont

We stayed in Kingston NY with a vague plan to drive through the Catskills Mountains the next day, but then we looked at much time we had left before we had to return the Subaru, so in the morning, we set sail for Vermont, so we could look at some the 100 covered bridges supposedly in the state.

Vermont is a picture post card state, fresh snow fell as we drove into the state, and the temperatures were very cold. We saw a few ski areas, and the whole area was very busy as it was President's Day Weekend. The first town of major size we came into was Rutland, and we turned back from passing this town when it was getting late and snow was covering the road. We then decided to hunker down overnight. A bit of a scare there, as we got the last room, in town after trying many hotels. A very nice lady at the Best Western rang around for us, explaining that it was a big skiing weekend.

The next day dawned clear and bright, but extremely cold, about -10C. It was a perfect day to see the covered bridges whech we had come to see, so we set off, on well cleared roads. There are many beautiful little towns, the first stop for us was Woodstock, where we got the daily coffee and had a walk on the frozen footpaths. Around Woodstock there were 4 bridges of note very close to the route we were on. The first of these was the Lincoln Bridge, built in 1877, then came the Middle Bridge [photo], and they were most picturesque. We saw Taftsville Bridge, built 1836, near the very pretty Taftsville General Store, and the most beautiful of all, Quechee Covered Bridge, over the Quechee River, at a spot where there was an old mill. This was now converted to a glass blowing centre, where they made their own hydroelectric power, using an old generator which had been brought back to life. The river there was mostly frozen, as you can see in the pic. All 4 of these bridges are still in use by motor traffic.

Also on this road was the Quechee Gorge Bridge, uncovered, which we risked life and limb, walking on to see the gorge [photo], whilst traffic roared by. There was no footpath, as it was covered in snow, thrown there by the road clearing.