July 24 Day 5 Florenceville-Bristol to Grand Falls, New Brunswick


   We began the morning with fog and we got mist on our glasses making the way just a little bit hazy as we descended from where we had stayed back down to the St. John River. The fog eventually burned off into a beautiful day with sunshine.  
   We traveled almost our whole distance on a rail trail today, 52 miles along the Saint John River. The first bit was paved, but most of it had a rougher unpaved surface than many rail trails we have been on. It also allows access to all-terrain vehicles in much of the part we traveled. We did see a few ATVs but didn’t see any other bicycles using it.  
   Just upriver from a hydroelectric dam was a large floral clock, where we decided to take a break. We began chatting with a man who drove over from the dam in a work truck. He had come to reset the clock has it had the wrong time. First he unlocked a small door in the back of the hill the clock is on so he could turn the mechanism off and adjust the speed slightly. Next he went up onto the clock face to reset the hands, then went back down and started it up again.  
. At one point we had a dog chase us. Jim quickly got off his bike and said no, and the owner also hollered at him. He stopped and then he picked up a stone, which was a mouthful for him as it was 3 by 4 inches in diameter. We chatted with the owner and found out his name was Rocky. They had named him that when they got him as a puppy and it was only later on he developed the habit of chewing or carrying stones, especially if he is anxious. 
   Our campsite tonight overlooks a beautiful gorge which is just downriver from the falls that gave the town of Grand Falls its name. After setting up camp, we took a walk along the gorge trail to the falls and dam and back again. The river makes a horseshoe bend around the town so a tunnel goes under the town from the dam above the falls to the other side downstream to where a hydroelectric plant is located.  
View from our campsite 

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