TC3
New member
My wife and I, and our hiking buddy "Luchia" made the Lincoln Woods parking lot at about 7:15am. We head out quickly and made Black Pond at about 8:30.
We set 345° on the compass, and about 25 minutes later we were sitting pretty on the Lincoln Brook Trail - having avoided what would become the most difficult stream crossing (Franconnia Branch).
Some of the cascades on the brook were quite beautiful, and we got some decent photos along the way (link below).
For the moment, the Cairn-Builders are winning, and my wife spotted the cairn marking the turn off for the Owl's Head Path. There was quite a bit of water running down the slide, especially where the trail narrows.
After a while, we made the "flat" of the ridge, and walked North long after hitting what we suspected was the peak(s). We wanted to be absolutely certain we hit the peak so we went far enough North to actually start descending again. The "trail" disappeared quickly, along with any doubts about whether or not we "got it".
It was about 12:30 and we enjoyed a quick lunch, and a nice chat with a fellow from Dover, NH who had peaked about 15 minutes after us - ahead of his 2 hiking mates who we passed shortly after leaving the peak area.
We had been able to "rock hop" all the streams UNTIL we came to the Franconnia Branch. My boots were wet enough (and we were far enough along in the trip) that I decided to just walk through. My wife didn't like the idea of going 5 more miles with soaking wet pants, socks, and boots so she did what any reasonable woman would do: she took them off and barefooted her way across - holding hubby for extra security !!
Compared to that - the rest of the way was boring
)
Seriously - the rest of the way was very uneventful: a pretty flat walk in the woods.
But what a great feeling to have knocked these 17-or-so miles off, and to have bagged the famed Owl's Head.
We made it back to the parking lot at 4:20 with darkness closing in quickly. All in all, a GREAT trek that we'll remember for a long, long time.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tedchmura/OwlSHeadHike?feat=directlink
We set 345° on the compass, and about 25 minutes later we were sitting pretty on the Lincoln Brook Trail - having avoided what would become the most difficult stream crossing (Franconnia Branch).
Some of the cascades on the brook were quite beautiful, and we got some decent photos along the way (link below).
For the moment, the Cairn-Builders are winning, and my wife spotted the cairn marking the turn off for the Owl's Head Path. There was quite a bit of water running down the slide, especially where the trail narrows.
After a while, we made the "flat" of the ridge, and walked North long after hitting what we suspected was the peak(s). We wanted to be absolutely certain we hit the peak so we went far enough North to actually start descending again. The "trail" disappeared quickly, along with any doubts about whether or not we "got it".
It was about 12:30 and we enjoyed a quick lunch, and a nice chat with a fellow from Dover, NH who had peaked about 15 minutes after us - ahead of his 2 hiking mates who we passed shortly after leaving the peak area.
We had been able to "rock hop" all the streams UNTIL we came to the Franconnia Branch. My boots were wet enough (and we were far enough along in the trip) that I decided to just walk through. My wife didn't like the idea of going 5 more miles with soaking wet pants, socks, and boots so she did what any reasonable woman would do: she took them off and barefooted her way across - holding hubby for extra security !!
Compared to that - the rest of the way was boring
)Seriously - the rest of the way was very uneventful: a pretty flat walk in the woods.
But what a great feeling to have knocked these 17-or-so miles off, and to have bagged the famed Owl's Head.
We made it back to the parking lot at 4:20 with darkness closing in quickly. All in all, a GREAT trek that we'll remember for a long, long time.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tedchmura/OwlSHeadHike?feat=directlink
