Owls Head Question

[hardyb]

This coming weekend Sept 14th &15th myself and 3 others are planning on bagging North and South Twin on Friday, staying at Gale Head Hut Friday night then hiking out Saturday via the Lincoln Brook and the Wilderness trail bagging Owls Head along the way. The long range forecast calls for showers Saturday so I am considering reversing our route and doing the longer leg on Friday before the possible rain. Does anyone have an opinion on whether this should be done in reverse, hiking south to north bagging Owls head on the first day? What are the pros and cons of either direction?
Thanks

 

[sapblatt]

hardyb -

your original plan gets the elevation (for the most part - minus the Owl's Head slide) out of the way in the first day - I prefer that. You would also have a very long first day with a lot of gain. Owl's Head would not be a picnic in the rain - but it is a loose rock kind of slide - it is not wet slabs for the most part - there are trees to hold onto...another issue may be how high will the crossings be on you way out?

I have done the Twins and Galehead in the rain - not a big deal - slow and wet, but not anymore dangerous than anything else.

Keep an eye on the forecasts - do not put too much stock on the 5 and 10 day forecasts - they are often amended numerous times!

Have fun - be safe!

 

[SteveHiker]

Mike's right about the forecasts. Saturday is 5 days away, and it'll probably change 5 times between now and then.

That being said, I'd want to be on the Twins on the better weather day. North Twin has a nice view, South Twin has even better 360 view. Owl's Head has ... well ... there's a little view on the slide. Plus, if there's rain and wind I'd rather be down in the trees.

 

[skiguy]

I'd stick with your plan of doing the Twins the first day and then Owl's Head. If you were to do Owl's Head first the hike once you are off the slide would IMO be somewhat of a slog and an up and down sort of thing which would be kind of a drag at the end of the day. I would also agree with sapblatt about getting the bulk of your elevation out of the way the first day. Also IMO dealing with the water crossings coming out from Owl's Head on the secound day would be better because if you do get wet what the heck you are on your way out ; which of course is moot if you bring H20 shoes. As of this weekend the water crossings were all doable by some creative rock hopping which of course can change but just keep your ear to the ground on the weather.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I've done a similar trip, and we did Owls Head first. We went up the slide, and then 'whacked off to the east, using Bondcliff as a reference point. There's one large brook crossing at the bottom, and the trail is about 1/4 mile on the other side. If you get to Galehead in time, you can climb it the first day or do it before breakfast on the second.

The second day we climbed S. Twin, and then went back to Lincoln Woods via the Bonds. Owls Head is more taxing than it appears, and if I were to do it again, I'd still do it in the same order.

Either way, it's a good trip, and I don't think it matters too much in the final analysis from which direction you approach them.

 

[hardyb]

Thanks for the info, I think I'll stick to the primary plan of doing Owls Head on the hike out Saturday, this way we can get an early start from the hut for the longer of the 2 days. I would like to get to the hut early on Friday, plus one of the group needs to bag Galehead so we can do that after we settle in.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I've done a similar trip, and we did Owls Head first. We went up the slide, and then 'whacked off to the east, using Bondcliff as a reference point. There's one large brook crossing at the bottom, and the trail is about 1/4 mile on the other side. If you get to Galehead in time, you can climb it the first day or do it before breakfast on the second.

The second day we climbed S. Twin, and then went back to Lincoln Woods via the Bonds. Owls Head is more taxing than it appears, and if I were to do it again, I'd still do it in the same order.

Or, if you go south to north, you can bushwhack off the OH ridge north down to the Height of Land, and then drop down to 13 Falls, which we found to be much easier than retracing our route back down the OH slide and hiking up the miserably overgrown upper Lincoln Brook Trail on the NW side of OH. I would not recommend this bushwhack uphill to OH from the Height of Land going from north to south.

 

[TC3]

This coming weekend Sept 14th &15th myself and 3 others are planning on bagging North and South Twin on Friday, staying at Gale Head Hut Friday night then hiking out Saturday via the Lincoln Brook and the Wilderness trail bagging Owls Head along the way...

I would stick to your plan. I think that after bagging three peaks on day 1, you'll appreciate the long, flat walk out after hitting OH.

A while back my wife and started Day 1 at 1:00 in the afternoon and took the Mt. Garfield Trail up and stayed at the Hut, hitting Galehead after supper. On Day 2 we bagged South Twin, the Bonds and Bondcliff before walking out to Lincoln Woods. We really appreciated the long, nearly level walk out and agreed that we would NOT have wanted to do it the other way around.

Have a blast !!

 

[hardyb]

Or, if you go south to north, you can bushwhack off the OH ridge north down to the Height of Land, and then drop down to 13 Falls, which we found to be much easier than retracing our route back down the OH slide and hiking up the miserably overgrown upper Lincoln Brook Trail on the NW side of OH. I would not recommend this bushwhack uphill to OH from the Height of Land going from north to south.

Any estimates on the time it would take to start at Lincoln Woods, bushwhack off the Owls Head ridge north and ending at Galehead Hut? We usually hike better than book time so I'm curious how long it would take.
I know the Wilderness trail is flat and easy for ending a long hike but I hate long straight trails that seem to go on forever with no end in site, espically at the end of a hike.