una_dogger
Well-known member
The Trail to Owl's Head (May 3, 2008)
For a few weeks now I've been planning to hike to Owl's Head. Since monday I'd been monitoring the stream discharge rate on the Pemi. Sage advice from those who climb these peaks twelve months out of the year said to be patient and pick the right day. By friday the Pemi was down to under 700cfs; having crested at ~6900 earlier in the week. The weatherman was calling for partly sunny skies and nearly 60 degrees as of friday morning, a forecast that radically changed several hours later, but still held promise.
Michael and I had planned to spend the weekend camping nearby, and had some designs on tagging Nancy as well, on Sunday. But for now, Owl's Head was our primary objective. It would be my NH 44/48. We set up camp about 8pm, and a few minutes after I sent Marchowes an email from my Blackberry, his car rolled into the campsite that we ultimately shared all weekend. We also made contact with Dave Bear, who was heading up North and would camp and join us for Owl's Head. After discussing our individual peakbagging plans for Saturday, we said our goodnights to Marc and bedded down.
We awoke and had breakfast with Dave Bear, finalized our plans and headed to Lincoln Woods. We hit the trail at 8 am. Dave had loose plans to perhaps camp out and despite the 45 pound pack he carried, we hiked steadily, reaching Black Pond in about and hour and a half or so. I'm pleased to report that the Wilderness Trail is in excellent shape.
Owl's Head, with its prominent cliff faces, stood out above the pond on a quiet and drizzly spring morning.We poked around looking for some landmarks that Marchowes had detailed, and quickly found a faint herdpath. I set a course due north toward Owl's Head on the gps and pulled out my compass as a double check. The herdpath dipped a bit to the east into a soggy bottom, and we continued to slab north climbing to about 1600 ft and remaining there for about a mile through open woods before dropping quickly through some moderate spruce to join the Lincoln Brook Trail west of the first major crossing. The bushwack was very basic and good practice for me, as I am still very new at this. It was good to have MichaelJ and Dave as backups -- they have alot more experience but let me set the course. By using this bushwack, we eliminated a large crossing of the Franconia Brook and the first and largest of the crossings of the Lincoln Brook.
Owl's Head in the distance from Black Pond:
We made good time on the Lincoln Brook Trail. About a quarter mile after we hit the trail, a solid rail of snow appeared. The rail is firm and barebootable. Just before the Liberty Brook Crossing, the trail is high on the banks and the rail is cambered slightly toward the river, apparently shaped by freeze/thaw cycles. There is an edge of ice along the edge of the steep bank, making this area an exciting place to hike through. A large chunk of the bank has erroded but what remains was stable enough to walk along. This picture was taken on the trip back.
Terra patiently follows MichaelJ along the erroded bank:
We reached the first crossing and were relieved that although we'd be getting our feet wet, we'd be OK and the two remaining crossings would most likely be fine, too. The water was cold, but my feet were already wet, as was my rainsuit from our brief whack through wet branches. The next two crossings went smoothly. We were now only about a quarter mile south of the Owl's Head Slide, and the snow began to deepen. We kept our eyes on the lookout for the start of the Brutie Bushwack, but didn't notice any signs. (We were headed for the Slide).
We reached a low, flat area with a huge pad of moss and a large cairn. We turned east here and began our climb up Owl's Head. The snow was about three to four feet deep but the rail was firm. Within about what seemed like five or so minutes of hiking, we reached the base of the slide. The entire slide was snow and ice free, but very wet. We climbed slowly taking care not to dislodge rocks onto eachother.
Dave at the base of Owl's Head Slide:
The spring at the top of the slide was running strong, and the trail above the slide was very wet. Above the spring, the snow is deep but hardpack, and slightly icy in the steeper early sections. Dave and I switched to snowshoes at this point, and MichaelJ put on microspikes. I was getting a bit cold and asked the guys if I could go on ahead. The climb was easy and I followed a faint rail up through the woods, occaisionally noticing a blue blaze. At about 3650 ft, I came to a large blowdown area. The rail had brought me to the far right of the area, and then fizzled out. I scoped out the woods on the left side, and they seemed alot thicker. There was an icy glaze on the branches, and a light freezing rain was falling. I climbed a bit on the right side, and altough I couldn't find the rail, the spruce were not so thick. I checked my GPS and saw that the summit was to the north of us and a few hundred feet of gentle climb. I hiked back down to the rail and listened for Dave and Mike. I heard a few sounds, and began to hoot to them. Terra heard their voices get closer and ran down to herd them up.
A faithful herding dog keeps a close eye on her "flock" and is always ready to work
Soon we regrouped and we discussed our next move. I suggested a small whack and they guys agreed to let me lead. The spruce was thick in some spots but not so bad that I was pushing my shoulders through and the grade was gentle enough that I didn't have to use spruce trunks to pull myself up slope. But the guys being bigger and Dave with the pack weren't as pleased with my route. Michael had gone down into a spruce trap and gotten a nasty bruise and big cut on his knee. I saw the ridgeline come into view, and the woods open up. We cut left and reached the ridge, and found a rail on what felt like a logging road. We think we were on the top of the Brutie Bushwack at this point. We snaked up a small bump, and there was a sure sign that we had found the Official Old Summit, the old nails in the tree gave it away. My GPS read 4024 ft.
We hugged and congratulated eachother, then headed north on the rail to the New Unofficial Summit AKA New True Summit About seven minutes of easy walking and some pushing through light spruce brought us to a non descript bump in the woods at 4054 ft. There was a skinny grey tree on the north side of the bump with a black mark on the trunk about seven feet up. The rail ended here. It was foggy and drizzling and Michael congratulated Dave and I for reaching another one of NH's Four Thousand Footers.
Dave on the New "True" Summit:
We headed back and took our same route down. We considered following the rail that continued to head south on the ridge, but after a bit of discussion, we decided to stick with what we knew would get us down. It was tricky going down even in snowshoes. The snow is hardened like icy styrofoam from all the rain and colder temperatures this week. We really lucked out. I'm sure if I'd tried to come here in the past warm sunny weekends, the snow pack could have been a mushy mess. If the rivers stay down and the temperatures cold, now is a good time to get Owl's Head for those on a schedule.
Slow going down the wet slide, I was a bit disappointed because the fog obscured the views of the backside of Franconia Ridge. We kept moving throughout the day, rarely taking breaks and eating only bars, gels, and Sharkies. It seemed more like a mission than a hike, but we got it done. We had Owl's Head, niether of us would be destined to finish our 48 on Owlie!
The light rain had raised the streams slightly but not too much.
MichaelJ crosses the Lincoln Brook:
To be continued ....
For a few weeks now I've been planning to hike to Owl's Head. Since monday I'd been monitoring the stream discharge rate on the Pemi. Sage advice from those who climb these peaks twelve months out of the year said to be patient and pick the right day. By friday the Pemi was down to under 700cfs; having crested at ~6900 earlier in the week. The weatherman was calling for partly sunny skies and nearly 60 degrees as of friday morning, a forecast that radically changed several hours later, but still held promise.
Michael and I had planned to spend the weekend camping nearby, and had some designs on tagging Nancy as well, on Sunday. But for now, Owl's Head was our primary objective. It would be my NH 44/48. We set up camp about 8pm, and a few minutes after I sent Marchowes an email from my Blackberry, his car rolled into the campsite that we ultimately shared all weekend. We also made contact with Dave Bear, who was heading up North and would camp and join us for Owl's Head. After discussing our individual peakbagging plans for Saturday, we said our goodnights to Marc and bedded down.
We awoke and had breakfast with Dave Bear, finalized our plans and headed to Lincoln Woods. We hit the trail at 8 am. Dave had loose plans to perhaps camp out and despite the 45 pound pack he carried, we hiked steadily, reaching Black Pond in about and hour and a half or so. I'm pleased to report that the Wilderness Trail is in excellent shape.
Owl's Head, with its prominent cliff faces, stood out above the pond on a quiet and drizzly spring morning.We poked around looking for some landmarks that Marchowes had detailed, and quickly found a faint herdpath. I set a course due north toward Owl's Head on the gps and pulled out my compass as a double check. The herdpath dipped a bit to the east into a soggy bottom, and we continued to slab north climbing to about 1600 ft and remaining there for about a mile through open woods before dropping quickly through some moderate spruce to join the Lincoln Brook Trail west of the first major crossing. The bushwack was very basic and good practice for me, as I am still very new at this. It was good to have MichaelJ and Dave as backups -- they have alot more experience but let me set the course. By using this bushwack, we eliminated a large crossing of the Franconia Brook and the first and largest of the crossings of the Lincoln Brook.
Owl's Head in the distance from Black Pond:
We made good time on the Lincoln Brook Trail. About a quarter mile after we hit the trail, a solid rail of snow appeared. The rail is firm and barebootable. Just before the Liberty Brook Crossing, the trail is high on the banks and the rail is cambered slightly toward the river, apparently shaped by freeze/thaw cycles. There is an edge of ice along the edge of the steep bank, making this area an exciting place to hike through. A large chunk of the bank has erroded but what remains was stable enough to walk along. This picture was taken on the trip back.
Terra patiently follows MichaelJ along the erroded bank:
We reached the first crossing and were relieved that although we'd be getting our feet wet, we'd be OK and the two remaining crossings would most likely be fine, too. The water was cold, but my feet were already wet, as was my rainsuit from our brief whack through wet branches. The next two crossings went smoothly. We were now only about a quarter mile south of the Owl's Head Slide, and the snow began to deepen. We kept our eyes on the lookout for the start of the Brutie Bushwack, but didn't notice any signs. (We were headed for the Slide).
We reached a low, flat area with a huge pad of moss and a large cairn. We turned east here and began our climb up Owl's Head. The snow was about three to four feet deep but the rail was firm. Within about what seemed like five or so minutes of hiking, we reached the base of the slide. The entire slide was snow and ice free, but very wet. We climbed slowly taking care not to dislodge rocks onto eachother.
Dave at the base of Owl's Head Slide:
The spring at the top of the slide was running strong, and the trail above the slide was very wet. Above the spring, the snow is deep but hardpack, and slightly icy in the steeper early sections. Dave and I switched to snowshoes at this point, and MichaelJ put on microspikes. I was getting a bit cold and asked the guys if I could go on ahead. The climb was easy and I followed a faint rail up through the woods, occaisionally noticing a blue blaze. At about 3650 ft, I came to a large blowdown area. The rail had brought me to the far right of the area, and then fizzled out. I scoped out the woods on the left side, and they seemed alot thicker. There was an icy glaze on the branches, and a light freezing rain was falling. I climbed a bit on the right side, and altough I couldn't find the rail, the spruce were not so thick. I checked my GPS and saw that the summit was to the north of us and a few hundred feet of gentle climb. I hiked back down to the rail and listened for Dave and Mike. I heard a few sounds, and began to hoot to them. Terra heard their voices get closer and ran down to herd them up.
A faithful herding dog keeps a close eye on her "flock" and is always ready to work
Soon we regrouped and we discussed our next move. I suggested a small whack and they guys agreed to let me lead. The spruce was thick in some spots but not so bad that I was pushing my shoulders through and the grade was gentle enough that I didn't have to use spruce trunks to pull myself up slope. But the guys being bigger and Dave with the pack weren't as pleased with my route.
Michael had gone down into a spruce trap and gotten a nasty bruise and big cut on his knee. I saw the ridgeline come into view, and the woods open up. We cut left and reached the ridge, and found a rail on what felt like a logging road. We think we were on the top of the Brutie Bushwack at this point. We snaked up a small bump, and there was a sure sign that we had found the Official Old Summit, the old nails in the tree gave it away. My GPS read 4024 ft. We hugged and congratulated eachother, then headed north on the rail to the New Unofficial Summit AKA New True Summit
About seven minutes of easy walking and some pushing through light spruce brought us to a non descript bump in the woods at 4054 ft. There was a skinny grey tree on the north side of the bump with a black mark on the trunk about seven feet up. The rail ended here. It was foggy and drizzling and Michael congratulated Dave and I for reaching another one of NH's Four Thousand Footers. Dave on the New "True" Summit:
We headed back and took our same route down. We considered following the rail that continued to head south on the ridge, but after a bit of discussion, we decided to stick with what we knew would get us down. It was tricky going down even in snowshoes. The snow is hardened like icy styrofoam from all the rain and colder temperatures this week. We really lucked out. I'm sure if I'd tried to come here in the past warm sunny weekends, the snow pack could have been a mushy mess. If the rivers stay down and the temperatures cold, now is a good time to get Owl's Head for those on a schedule.
Slow going down the wet slide, I was a bit disappointed because the fog obscured the views of the backside of Franconia Ridge. We kept moving throughout the day, rarely taking breaks and eating only bars, gels, and Sharkies. It seemed more like a mission than a hike, but we got it done. We had Owl's Head, niether of us would be destined to finish our 48 on Owlie!
The light rain had raised the streams slightly but not too much.
MichaelJ crosses the Lincoln Brook:
To be continued ....
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