Mats Roing
New member
The idea was to see if getting to Owl's Head from Flume made sense - the bottom line is that it's faster to go around the Osseo Trail-Lincoln Woods Trail to get to Lincoln Brook Trail and Owl's Head. It took me 4 1/2 hours to navigate the thick woods. Lincoln Slide seems like the best option from Franconia Ridge. It was a beautiful day with no rain and the sun came out after 9am.
After following the ridge (going north-east from Mt. Flume) for 2 hours whacking and descended 350 vertical feet in the process I decided to get of the ridge to the north in hope for better terrain and wanting to get to Lincoln Brook Trail closer to Owl's Head. Since it got steeper, gravity was on my side at least. But the undervegetation and the dense woods made it quite an ordeal. In the next two hours I made it down another 1,200 vertical feet where it got a little less steep and it somewhat opened up. This is a section where you want to make sure you don't take a bad fall because no one can find you here easily. You have to use your hands to push aside the undervegetation see if you have a 10 foot vertical, a blowdown, slippery rock or safe ground underneath. And you come to many sections where you simply can't proceed because the pine trees are too close or a pileup of blowdowns. There were plenty of "minicaves" suitable for hibernating bears as well. Glasses are helpful since you have branches in your face all the time. I don't think I ever had so much pine needles stuck on me and inside my clothing.
I followed the left side of the creek once down at the bottom of the valley. Soon I came onto an abandoned logging road and life became very pleasant. The logging road split in two about 1/4 mile before I reached Lincoln Brook Trail. I took the right logging road here. The left went up over a little hill. The right logging road stopped in what seemed to be a campsite.
A couple of hundred yards after the campsite the Lincoln Brook Trail appeared. The section where you are in a trench with the wooden logs from the railroad visible. I'm guessing about a mile from the Owl's Head cutoff. Ran into a guy with a beautifully homemade wooden trekking pole. The water level in the two creek crossings was low enough to keep feet dry. It felt so good to be on a trail with no obstacles so I ran back to Lincoln Woods. Fell once on Lincoln Woods Trail. Nice and flat trail with sudden obstacles.....good excercise in paying attention to the trail
Soooo.... I recommend don't whack Flume to Lincoln Brook Trail.......
After following the ridge (going north-east from Mt. Flume) for 2 hours whacking and descended 350 vertical feet in the process I decided to get of the ridge to the north in hope for better terrain and wanting to get to Lincoln Brook Trail closer to Owl's Head. Since it got steeper, gravity was on my side at least. But the undervegetation and the dense woods made it quite an ordeal. In the next two hours I made it down another 1,200 vertical feet where it got a little less steep and it somewhat opened up. This is a section where you want to make sure you don't take a bad fall because no one can find you here easily. You have to use your hands to push aside the undervegetation see if you have a 10 foot vertical, a blowdown, slippery rock or safe ground underneath. And you come to many sections where you simply can't proceed because the pine trees are too close or a pileup of blowdowns. There were plenty of "minicaves" suitable for hibernating bears as well. Glasses are helpful since you have branches in your face all the time. I don't think I ever had so much pine needles stuck on me and inside my clothing.
I followed the left side of the creek once down at the bottom of the valley. Soon I came onto an abandoned logging road and life became very pleasant. The logging road split in two about 1/4 mile before I reached Lincoln Brook Trail. I took the right logging road here. The left went up over a little hill. The right logging road stopped in what seemed to be a campsite.
A couple of hundred yards after the campsite the Lincoln Brook Trail appeared. The section where you are in a trench with the wooden logs from the railroad visible. I'm guessing about a mile from the Owl's Head cutoff. Ran into a guy with a beautifully homemade wooden trekking pole. The water level in the two creek crossings was low enough to keep feet dry. It felt so good to be on a trail with no obstacles so I ran back to Lincoln Woods. Fell once on Lincoln Woods Trail. Nice and flat trail with sudden obstacles.....good excercise in paying attention to the trail
Soooo.... I recommend don't whack Flume to Lincoln Brook Trail.......
