TroutBumNH
Member
The good forecast and an empty Friday made for a great day to undertake a deep wilderness trek.... Owl's Head called.
Left the Lincoln Woods trailhead just past 6am, and was at Black Pond by about 7. Made the bushwhack up to the Lincoln Brook Trail... it was my first bushwhack in the Whites, and my only advice is 'don't do your first bushwhack alone!!' I didn't run into any problems save a spruce trap or two, but although I may have saved a mile or so, I didn't save any time, and the moments of anxiety were stressful enough to make it seem not-worthwhile. But untracked woods were pretty cool, and it didn't seem like there was much -- if any -- amount of time when I couldn't hear the water.
Once on Lincoln Brook, I was busting to get to the Owl's Head trailhead..... how many times have I said 'I'll get there next...' ? I was on the lookout for that red-rock cairn I've seen pictured so many times... but upon reaching yet another brook crossing, I knew something was amiss. I knew I was cruising along, but didn't figure I'd passed the spur/cairn without seeing it.. but I realized I must have.
A lot of work had been done on the trail(s) on the way in, and it turns out that a 'helpful' trail crew saw fit to break down the cairn (!!). I know that it's the policy of the AMC to take down 'non-AMC' cairns.... BUT THE WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE DESCRIBES THIS ONE.
For a first time 'Owl's-Header', I was expecting the cairn to point out the trailhead. It was completely taken apart... I'd feel more self-conscious about admitting this fact, but two other gentlemen (Don and John) made the same error, and Don had done Owl's Head before. I would have turned around sooner, but their continuing boot prints in the mud on LBT made me think that the spur must be just a bit further on.
According to the guide, I kept on for another .9 miles on the LBT before turning around -- over some of worst maintained trail I've ever seen in the Whites. It was mostly unmarked, and difficult to follow. It's more than a tad frustrating to know that some trail crew spent a LARGE amount of time taking that cairn (an AMC pet peeve) apart, but couldn't be bothered to blaze an 'unacceptably far gone' stretch of trail no more than a mile further along (a safety issue that should be addressed) on the LBT.
Again, it was my first time out there, so I'll be interested to hear SherpaJohn's impressions after his hike tomorrow. If anyone meeting up with John and his crew haven't been out to Owl's Head before, be careful, and know that the scattered mass of red rocks on the side of the trail *used* to be the cairn. Once I'd walked back to it and carefully inspected the area, I finally picked up the blazes. The AMC wants the Owl's Head trail to be 'unmaintained', but if they include it in their guidebook, they should not be destroying the very landmarks they describe.
Any thoughts on this? This is my first post after being a long-term lurker and I don't mean for it to be a rant, but it's frustrating as hell once you realized you're 8.9 miles out, and not quite sure where you are on your map.
Once I found the path, I made it up and down Owl's Head without further ado. The views from the slide were absolutely fantastic. It was supposed to be in the 90's in the Boston area, but it was beautiful with a great breeze on the slide. Just perfect. As many of you know, the summit experience after such a long trip is rather underwhelming, however, there it was:
O
W
L
'
S
H
E
A
D
The walk out was very uneventful... didn't see a soul on the way back until the Wilderness Trail and got the Franconia Falls daytrippers on their way out and the weekenders making their way in.
Overall, a great day, with some minor frustrations mixed in.. Anything I gained mileage-wise via the bushwhack was given back on the 1.8 round trip to the next brook crossing ('beyond the cairn', that is). 18-19 miles will make for some sore feet! They seemed to appreciate dangling from a bar stool at the Station in North Woodstock, and man, did that Pemi Pale Ale taste great (and earned.. both for the total effort on the day, and the distance into the Pemi Wilderness itself).
Mike
Left the Lincoln Woods trailhead just past 6am, and was at Black Pond by about 7. Made the bushwhack up to the Lincoln Brook Trail... it was my first bushwhack in the Whites, and my only advice is 'don't do your first bushwhack alone!!' I didn't run into any problems save a spruce trap or two, but although I may have saved a mile or so, I didn't save any time, and the moments of anxiety were stressful enough to make it seem not-worthwhile. But untracked woods were pretty cool, and it didn't seem like there was much -- if any -- amount of time when I couldn't hear the water.
Once on Lincoln Brook, I was busting to get to the Owl's Head trailhead..... how many times have I said 'I'll get there next...' ? I was on the lookout for that red-rock cairn I've seen pictured so many times... but upon reaching yet another brook crossing, I knew something was amiss. I knew I was cruising along, but didn't figure I'd passed the spur/cairn without seeing it.. but I realized I must have.
A lot of work had been done on the trail(s) on the way in, and it turns out that a 'helpful' trail crew saw fit to break down the cairn (!!). I know that it's the policy of the AMC to take down 'non-AMC' cairns.... BUT THE WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE DESCRIBES THIS ONE.
For a first time 'Owl's-Header', I was expecting the cairn to point out the trailhead. It was completely taken apart... I'd feel more self-conscious about admitting this fact, but two other gentlemen (Don and John) made the same error, and Don had done Owl's Head before. I would have turned around sooner, but their continuing boot prints in the mud on LBT made me think that the spur must be just a bit further on.
According to the guide, I kept on for another .9 miles on the LBT before turning around -- over some of worst maintained trail I've ever seen in the Whites. It was mostly unmarked, and difficult to follow. It's more than a tad frustrating to know that some trail crew spent a LARGE amount of time taking that cairn (an AMC pet peeve) apart, but couldn't be bothered to blaze an 'unacceptably far gone' stretch of trail no more than a mile further along (a safety issue that should be addressed) on the LBT.
Again, it was my first time out there, so I'll be interested to hear SherpaJohn's impressions after his hike tomorrow. If anyone meeting up with John and his crew haven't been out to Owl's Head before, be careful, and know that the scattered mass of red rocks on the side of the trail *used* to be the cairn. Once I'd walked back to it and carefully inspected the area, I finally picked up the blazes. The AMC wants the Owl's Head trail to be 'unmaintained', but if they include it in their guidebook, they should not be destroying the very landmarks they describe.
Any thoughts on this? This is my first post after being a long-term lurker and I don't mean for it to be a rant, but it's frustrating as hell once you realized you're 8.9 miles out, and not quite sure where you are on your map.
Once I found the path, I made it up and down Owl's Head without further ado. The views from the slide were absolutely fantastic. It was supposed to be in the 90's in the Boston area, but it was beautiful with a great breeze on the slide. Just perfect. As many of you know, the summit experience after such a long trip is rather underwhelming, however, there it was:
O
W
L
'
S
H
E
A
D
The walk out was very uneventful... didn't see a soul on the way back until the Wilderness Trail and got the Franconia Falls daytrippers on their way out and the weekenders making their way in.
Overall, a great day, with some minor frustrations mixed in.. Anything I gained mileage-wise via the bushwhack was given back on the 1.8 round trip to the next brook crossing ('beyond the cairn', that is). 18-19 miles will make for some sore feet! They seemed to appreciate dangling from a bar stool at the Station in North Woodstock, and man, did that Pemi Pale Ale taste great (and earned.. both for the total effort on the day, and the distance into the Pemi Wilderness itself).
Mike
Last edited:
