bktourer1

I had forgotten about AAA for bike transport in an emergency. Thanks for the reminder.
I am writing to AAA as I am not sure if every club provides this option
I have all the bike shops on my cues from Schuylerville NY into Vermont.
I have friends on both sides of Champlain so if I run into issues, I should be ok

DowneasTTer

Just be careful if you plan on camping at the North Beach Campground. While staying there last July someone tried to steal our road bikes off the rack on our toad. We got up in the morning to find one of the bikes off the rack and the cable lock half cut. They must have been disturbed during the time.


Here's a picture of the ferry in service.

bktourer1

Been on the ferry a few times thanks and have the schedule on my cues.
Terrible someone tried to get your bikes.
Burlington has been having some issues lately, so I'll need to see what happens later in the year

rumrunn6

darn! wonder if one could rig a motion alarm like they have for apartment/dorm doorknobs

https://www.amazon.com/Securityman-H.../dp/B07SFC4VTZ

DowneasTTer

Actually these are the one's we purchased and they were in back bike bags. However, thinking that we were safe in a fenced city run campground I didn't turn them on that night. Lesson learned. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

rumrunn6

you never know, right? we had a bear take some bagels we left out by mistake, while camping near Story Land in NH w/ the kids. I woke when I heard it rummaging. didn't go out, just forcibly & loudly unzipped & re-zipped the tent. that was enough to startle it & it went away. put the food away & set the alarms!

indyfabz

No doubt. The first time I stayed there (2018) some tweeker looking guy was wandering around the grounds at night looking into vehicle windows in the open area in the middle. (I think they were facility vehicles.) I was up late reading outside my tent I trained my headlamp on him for a minute or two and he left the area. That is one reason I got a lean-to last year. I positioned my tent so that it blocked easy access to my bike and stove.

Sadly, there is more drug-related crime in VT and other places in New England than you might imagine. Later during last year's trip the shopping center I stopped at just north of the center of Bratleboro, VT had a security guard patrolling the parking lot during broad daylight. My 2018 tour included a stop at my 35th high school reunion in Old Deerfield, MA. Tony Deerfield Academy. A couple miles up the road is Greenfield, which supposedly had the highest rate of opioid addiction in that entire state. I had to run into town for something and got a sense that could have been correct.

monsieuroctagon

When I rode through Burlington I camped in the Centennial Woods at UVM. It was fine, we didn't get bothered by anyone. Needed lots of tick repellent though.

bktourer1

If all goes well,next week, plan on heading north on the Mohawk Hudson to Waterford, then continuing on the Champlain Valley Trail to Rouses Point.
Cross lake Champlain into Vermont and south using campgrounds and a motel back to Whitehall.
From Whitehall back to Rensselaer,

professorbob

If the ferry is running, when you get to South Hero, head to the Island Line trail. It's easy to find on a map. Rt. 2 getting toward Burlington is uncomfortably busy, while the trail couldn't be more pleasant and scenic. The trail will then take you right to downtown Burlington.

rholland1951

Here are links to a ride report of a tour of the Champlain Islands from 2019, pre-Covid and pre-renovations on the Island Line. It was a good, 3-day ride.

Champlain Islands, Day 1

Champlain Islands, Day 2

Champlain Islands, Day 3

There are hyperlinks at the end of each day (Day 3 links back to Day 1), so in principle, anyone with one of these links can get to the other two.

rod

rumrunn6

day 3 looked like rough water for that little ferry! yikes! & I remember the causeway having it's own weather. meaning even on a nice sunny day one might need a wind breaker for any strong steady wind

indyfabz

Do you know if the renovations were after a 2018 spring storm? I came down from St. Albans that year in early June during a tour home to Philly. The north part of the trail was closed due to damage caused by a storm a few weeks prior.

indyfabz

Last September I stopped in Burlington for two nights so I could go sailing with an old friend and his wife. They have a place that is a 10 minute walk from the marina by the Coast Guard facility. It was sunny when we left the house and clouded up and started raining before we could take the boat out. Then it cleared and the wind started whipping. First time sailing for me.

rholland1951

I believe that the renovations took place in September of 2019, to fix damage from storms in the then-current year.

rod

bktourer1

Just got back from trip. Rensselear to Lock 5 Schuylerville (great place to camp) to Whitehall to Port Henry to Rouses Point (quick picture at border), over the bridge into Vermont (no room at North Beach), had to go into Shelburn to get last camp site.
Shelburn to DAR SP and DAR to Hampton to a Motel (Panorama Motel just a few miles South of Fair Haven (great views of the mountains (no food close by)
Rt 22 North Bound was fun with the elevation and trucks. The downhills were great.
Rt 2 was in good shape and lots of new asphalt, Rt. 22a shifted from crappy to excellent (wide shoulders in a lot of places)
Parts of the Champlain Valley trail were stone dust and some were crappy gravel.
Got caught in thunderstorm for 2 hours on the ride to Waterford Visitor Center ($5 for key for showers and toilets

Peruvian

I'm in Burlington if anyone ever wants to take a spin on the Greenway trail to the Island Line trail.