Dorchester-Lyme Road, NH - Nobo 1760

This post is from June 15, 2015.  The GPS tracking of this hike can be found at:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/806301790 

This was my first try with my idea of self-shuttling between trailheads using the pickup truck with my new small Honda Rebel 250 on a motorcycle carrier on the back.  This is what happened:

We delayed the start of our 9 mile AT hike to try to squeeze it in between the morning and evening rains.  We were largely successful in that endeavor.

This was also the first time ever we were trying out my scheme of dropping the new small motorcycle and the end of the day and driving the truck to the beginning of the day and then driving the bike back to the truck at the end.

The hike went well; one of Helen's knees got a little sore as the terrain was inevitably rough - this is not VA or NC where Helen last hiked with me, but nothing one Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) couldn't handle.

When we got to the end of day trailhead I looked in the distance for the motorcycle and did not see it.  I did not panic as I was sure that it was simply a matter of me seeing from the wrong angle.  Wrong.  It was gone.

Along with our two helmets with the base of our radio setup, and our two expensive BMW waterproof suits.  Truly gone.  I was flabbergasted.  We were also stranded 17 miles from our truck in a very rural area. I had no cell coverage but Helen thought maybe a 911 call might get through to the police.

It did not.  So, we began the 4 mile walk to Lyme, NH.  We came to a house and Helen suggested that we knock on their door and ask for help.  That turned out to be a brilliant idea (which I initially discouraged, but boy was I wrong). These people let us use their phone to call the police to report the theft.  It was no theft.  Someone had torn off our temporary plates and when the police saw this motorcycle in the middle of nowhere with

no plates they thought it was abandoned so had it towed.   That was a HUGE

relief as there was a lot of money and trouble invested in that equipment, which we had not yet insured, BTW.  Then we had to deal with the logistical problem that we were 7 miles from the towing company that had our bike and they wanted $150 cash to get it out of hock.  The nice people who let us use their phone also happened to be the proprietors of the Lyme General store (and via the store next door neighbors to the McCutcheons, our former across the street neighbors in Eliot,BTW!!!), then offered to drive us to towing place.  That was a HUGE help.  When we got there, we did not have $150 in cash, but the owner let me leave my license with him while we drove the bike back to our truck and our money.  That all worked out and has turned into a great story, but.... WOW.

I am attaching a couple of shots of how we looked when we finally got the bike back to the starting trailhead where we had left the pickup truck: