Lafayette-Lincoln-Owls Head-Lafayette

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Rejean

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On saturday November 25 I went for a very tough hike for Owls Head. Upstead of going by Lincoln wood I decided to go by Lafayette using Old Bride Path-green leaf trail. I had an very early start at 4:30 am in the dark and reach the summit before the sun reach the valley. I was at Lafayette summit at 7:30 am and went for Lincoln, after I back track to the Lincoln gravel slide that I took till the brook. I bushwack and past the junction of the two brook and continued till the summit of Owls Head that I reached at 11:35. I had a bit of difficulty at finding the true summit but I find it (small 2 x 4). From the summit of Owls Head I took compass for Lafayette and follow it till the summit and avoid the gravel slide. Lots of difficulty with the small trees near the ridge between Lincoln-Lafayette. I was back on the ridge at 2:45 and very tired. After had eat to get new energy I went to Lafayette and back to my car parked at the Lafayette camp ground . 16 miles and 7000 feet ascent for
one mountain of 4025 feet!!! :) :) :)
 
Last edited:
nice

Sounds like quite the hike.
I've been starting to look at it for a winter hike, for an overnight, but as yet I haven't been in there.
Congratulations indeed !
 
Very impressive. If I read your report correctly, you skipped the Owls Head slide and just went straight up and down OH. Here's a sketch on a map of where I think you went. Bushwhacks in dashed lines:

Lafayette_Lincoln_Owls_Head.sized.jpg


Boy, that's a tough way to go. Congratulations.
 
Very impressive, Rejean. I enjoyed my trip down the Lincoln slide, and I'm glad to see more and more people attempting it. (Or at least admitting that they have taken that route!)

While there is over 3 times as much elevation gain with the route you took, I think it beats the monotony of walking the Wilderness, Franconia Brook, and Lincoln Brook trails out and back. At least you get a bit of an adventure descending the scree on the Lincoln Slide.

The return trip must have been difficult. You can't see the lower part of the Lincoln Slide from the valley, you have to pick the correct stream and follow it up a ways before the slide opens up. I personally wouldn't want to mess with the Krumholtz near Lafayette's summit, but now you get partial credit for a Waterman-esque solo bushwhack of Lafayette from the East! (Partial credit since it wasn't done in winter!)
 
Albee, I don't went on the slide on my way up.
I buswack on the right of the brook going up at
about 500-1000 feet of the brook. From the summit
of Owls Head I took compass between Lafayette and
Lincoln (315 NW) and follow that. :)
 
Rjean PMed me about his route. Thanks Rejean. Here's a revised map:

Lafayette_Lincoln_Owls_Head_001.sized.jpg


His route back to Lafayette was more like the blue line. This looks like a better route since it gets to the top on the east ridge of North Lincoln, which as I recall is fairly open.

Great job Rejean.
 
Rejean said:
I was at Lafayette summit at 7:30 am and went for Lincoln, ...the summit of Owls Head that I reached at 11:35. ... I was back on the ridge at 2:45 and very tired.
So it took 4 hours from Lafayette to OH and only 3 hours back, 1000' more elevation gain when you were already tired and bushwhack instead of Lincoln slide. Should have gone on to Cannon, maybe take only 2 hours :)
 
RoySwkr said:
So it took 4 hours from Lafayette to OH and only 3 hours back, 1000' more elevation gain when you were already tired and bushwhack instead of Lincoln slide. Should have gone on to Cannon, maybe take only 2 hours :)

It took longer because I went to Lincoln before going down and
I went down on the slide slowly. I alway faster going up than down
on a mountain.
 
Well done, Rajean! Lincoln slide was the traditional Owls Head approach before we had a Kanc Highway and Lincoln Woods parking lot, back when few were bagging NH 4000 footers. I am surprised that we did not meet you on Saturday, as we took the modern route (BP bushwhack on way in, Fisherman's bushwhack on way out) to reach the "new" Owls Head summit at about the same time (I need to check my notes, we probably arrived at the summit a few minutes after you). The elevation of 4025 ft for the "old" summit is probably not real (definitely not surveyed), but the new summit is at least 7 to 15 ft higher, which we compared with a surveying altimeter (+/- 2 ft precision on a clear day), and certainly over 4000 ft in any case.
 
I'm so impressed with all that bushwacking. Were you at all worried that you might get lost? I know I would have gotten turned around and would still be out there trying to find my way back.
Well done!
 
skibones said:
I'm so impressed with all that bushwacking. Were you at all worried that you might get lost? I know I would have gotten turned around and would still be out there trying to find my way back.
Well done!


I was not worry because going down I follow the brook and for
going up Owls Head it was very open. And from the summit of
Owls head I see the Lafayette ridge all the way down. After
the brook I follow the cap that I took with my compass and
I was not far from the brook that start at the slide.
 
Dr. Dasypodidae said:
Lincoln slide was the traditional Owls Head approach before we had a Kanc Highway and Lincoln Woods parking lot, back when few were bagging NH 4000 footers.
I wonder whether this slide has actually been climbed more often recently (in part due to reports here) than by those few back in the '50s.
 
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