Rains, High Water & Owl's Head

I was hoping to bag Owl's Head as #47 this Saturday or Sunday--saving Isolation for last--with my dog, but was told by someone with whom I was planning to go that OH is NOT a recommended hike in the rain or shortly after heavy or prolonged rains. I suppose the length of the hike is one issue, but the one that was stressed related to high waters. Does anyone have any idea on a time frame for drainage in the Pemi/OH area? I'm itching to get out there. Thanks!

Play around with these graphs of discharge and gage heights for the East Branch of the Pemi and you can get some sense of the drainage info you're seeking. I was in the Pemi yesterday and found stream heights (at the stepping stone crossing near the campground and the Cedar Brook crossing, for instance) higher than I would have expected after a week+ of no rain here. They were quite manageable but even so I would have thought they'd be much lower.

Long story alert . . .

Last October, I hiked the Outer Loop of the Pemi as a 3 night backpacking trip and then came off the Bonds and crossed the Pemi on those LARGE boulders to camp at Franconia Brook Campsite. The boulders were sticking about 12 inches out of the water. The plan was to stay at that campground and then hike the Inner Loop of the Pemi and Owl's Head along the Way. All expcept one of my hiking partners for that trip (because they are infinitely more inteeligent than me ) hiked out to Woodstock that night and stayed in a warm, dry, clean bed in town and ate and drank real food and beer.

However, Brian and I stayed because I wanted to do the "Loop within the Loop" and we managed to barely stay dry as the rain poured from the sky with such force that my tent sagged onto us, not from the wind but from the sheer force of the water falling onto us.

The next day 4 friends (2 from the night before and 2 more) joined / rejoined us for the Inner loop. They of course came in on the Wilderness Trail and had no need to cross the Pemi. They stood on the other side as Brian and I looked on with some shock at the LARGE boulders that we had previously crossed under water about 6-10 inches. The water levels had risen over 2 feet.

Since I had found the rock-hopping the night before challenging enough, we decided to lock arms and walk across the Pemi, a stupid thing I shall NEVER do again. WE stayed upright and safe but the look of horror on the faces of my friends will forever be stuck in my mind. They were in such shock, noone took any pictures of the 2 idiots crossing the rushing Pemi.

In any case, the levels of all the crossings on the Lincoln Brook Trail were very high and most of us donned tevas or some sort of water sandal to walk across the larger crossings. It was an adventure to say the least.

I hiked OW again this past weekend and though the levels were less than last year at this time, it was still a challenge.

I say bring a GOOD pair of water shoes and allow enough time to change into them and then cross slowly and carefully. The water is also VERY cold so keep that in mind. It is certainly doable I think as most things are with enough care and attention, but just be extra careful.

sli74

Good advice from Seema as usual, excellent story. Two of the crossings are quite close so we usually keep the water shoes or old sneakers on for that portion of the hike. There is nothing quite as nice as slipping on warm dry socks and boots after the major crossings! Have fun, when are you finishing on Isolation?

Ok, so the upshot, I guess, is that this weekend's a wash. (LOL, albeit sadly.) Aaaarrrggghhhh! I was hoping to finish up on Iso next week, but I imagine that that'll get pushed back as a result of the coming rains. Bummer. As they say, though, the mountains'll be there next time . . . .

And, by the way, Waumbek, thank you for the URL for the graphs. Very interesting. I'll probably make use of the site again when it seems that I'll have another shot at getting to OH in the coming weeks.

sugahjohn said:

Ok, so the upshot, I guess, is that this weekend's a wash. (LOL, albeit sadly.) Aaaarrrggghhhh! I was hoping to finish up on Iso next week, but I imagine that that'll get pushed back as a result of the coming rains. Bummer. As they say, though, the mountains'll be there next time . . . .

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I guess it all boils down to how important this is to you. I saved Owl's Head for a planned hiking day that was wet & rainy day. It was miserable, but I had the time and really wanted to get it done.

There were healthy flows in the streams that day and the rocks were wet and a bit slippery. I slipped off one and took a boot full, cursing myself for not having put on the gaiters in my pack. If you do change your mind and choose to go, I would recommend gaiters in the event that you don't want to change into water shoes every time. Also, the descent of the slide should be done carefully. It's not daunting, but some of the rocks can be slippery.

Well, I'm trying to think for two. It's one thing if I get myself into a jam, but it's quite another thing if I get my dog into one. She's been through a lot over the past few months (we started on 05/28/2005) in bagging 46 thus far, so I don't want to go and do the remaining two without her, nor do I want to do anything hairbrained in order to just get 'em done.

The Black Pond bushwack to Owls Head, bypasses all but one (the last and easiest) stream crossing.

Not *exactly* true, and I'm not correcting you to be a jerk, I'm only bringing it up because some people count crossings to get to the Owl's Head Path area. After the Black Pond bushwhack, there is a small crossing, the crossing of Liberty Brook, and then the last crossing of Lincoln Brook.

The crossing of Liberty Brook could potentially be mistaken for Lincoln Brook, although a good awareness of your surroundings will make you realize you're right near the confluence.

MichaelJ said:

Not *exactly* true, and I'm not correcting you to be a jerk, I'm only bringing it up because some people count crossings to get to the Owl's Head Path area. After the Black Pond bushwhack, there is a small crossing, the crossing of Liberty Brook, and then the last crossing of Lincoln Brook.

The crossing of Liberty Brook could potentially be mistaken for Lincoln Brook, although a good awareness of your surroundings will make you realize you're right near the confluence.

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Hampshire and MichaelJ, thanks for your input. But, it sort of hits at the crux of my problem: I've gained some confidence over the last few months, I can't say that I'm confident about going into full bushwhacking mode alone with the dog even though we have done 42 of 46 thus far by ourselves. We did not bushwhack, however. Maybe it's reputation or hype, maybe it's the advice of someone who's hiked OH and with whom I was going to give it a go myself, but I have a lot of respect for that wooded mound. I mean, I can't wait to go. I think it'll be a gas, generating similar but different feelings as the other hikes and mountains have. My lack of knowledge of the area, though, is indicated by the fact that I am totally clueless about the "Black Pond Bushwhack".

Ah, no worries.

Grab a topo map of the area. Follow the Wilderness (Lincoln Woods) Trail up to the Black Pond Trail. Follow that out to the end, at the pond. Mark the spot. Draw a line approximately just west of magnetic north in bearing. You will see that you hit the Lincoln Brook Trail just west of where it crosses from north of the brook back to south of the brook.

That line passes all through open woods - it is easy to just take a compass, pick your bearing, and go. It's almost impossible to get lost. If you go too far to the right, you'll hit Lincoln Brook. Take a left, and you might pick up a fishermen's path, and you'll eventually hit the trail at the crossing. If you go too far to the left, you'll still hit the trail. If you go WAY too far to the left, you'll still eventually get squeezed into the trail, or you'll hit an old logging road which you can follow by turning right and taking it to the trail.

By going this way, you are skipping the Lincoln Brook Trail's crossing of Franconia Brook and Lincoln Brook, leaving only some much smaller crossings further north to deal with.

If the weather conditions are good and water is low, I think it's faster to just hoof it all the way around the trail. If the water in the brooks is high, or especially if it's winter and you're on xc skis, it's worth taking the bushwhack.

Coming back is trickier, since your target is the much smaller Black Pond, and I'll let someone else describe how to do it.

Wow, MichaelJ! Sounds fun and easy enough. I'd like to give it the "idiot proof" test and give it a go! I actually did a search and checked out Roy Schweiker's Bushwhacks to NH 4000 Footers on the Peakbagging the 4000 Footer Mountains of New England site. Your description seemed much better, though. Great! Something to think about! Thanks!

I did Owl's Head yesterday and I agree w/Waumbek that the water levels were higher than to be expected after a dry week. I did the traditional route, not the bushwhack. At the Franconia Brook crossing, I just couldn't find a rock hopping route that went all the way across, I ended up taking off the boots and wading across. The deepest spot was a little less than knee deep. All other crossings were rock-hoppable

That's why I "normally" leave these things to the professionals. I've done the bushwack twice each, in the summer and winter, the most recent this spring. I can only blame my poor memory on my age.

Coming Back

MichaelJ said:

Grab a topo map of the area. Follow the Wilderness (Lincoln Woods) Trail up to the Black Pond Trail. Follow that out to the end, at the pond. Mark the spot. Draw a line approximately just west of magnetic north in bearing. You will see that you hit the Lincoln Brook Trail just west of where it crosses from north of the brook back to south of the brook.

That line passes all through open woods - it is easy to just take a compass, pick your bearing, and go. It's almost impossible to get lost. If you go too far to the right, you'll hit Lincoln Brook. Take a left, and you might pick up a fishermen's path, and you'll eventually hit the trail at the crossing. If you go too far to the left, you'll still hit the trail. If you go WAY too far to the left, you'll still eventually get squeezed into the trail, or you'll hit an old logging road which you can follow by turning right and taking it to the trail.

Coming back is trickier, since your target is the much smaller Black Pond, and I'll let someone else describe how to do it.

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Coming back, I don't try to get to Black Pond, precisely because it is too small a target. I follow the Lincoln Brook Trail back to the second crossing (i.e. the second crossing that is skipped on the way in - there's an illegal campsite on the south side of the trail here) and roughly follow the brook down to catch the end of the Franconia Falls trail. The going is a bit thicker in spots but there is also some evidence of herd paths. In general you want to keep the brook in sight but don't hesitate to move away from it when staying close would take you into patches of flood debris. Eventually you should find an extension of the Franconia Falls spur trail - someday I'll have to see how far up that goes.
I don't know how viable this route is after a heavy rain but it wasn't too bad on a day when we were just barely able to keep our boots on at the upper three crossings (BTW IMO all three are potentially dangerous and should be counted). There were a few non-bushwhackers who complained about this route after such a long hike but it had been a rough day for other reasons as well.

Eric Savage said:

...roughly follow the brook down to catch the end of the Franconia Falls trail. ... Eventually you should find an extension of the Franconia Falls spur trail - someday I'll have to see how far up that goes.

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I used this route on the way in on my last trip to Owls Head and followed herd paths the entire way. The logging road continues past Franconia Falls then an "End of Trail" sign (thought those weren't allowed any more) when it peters out there were a maze of paths along the brook. I don't remember any significant crossings - if you look at the map Black Pond cuts off most of the terrain on the W. However a couple years previous I hadn't found all the right paths on the way out, so it may just involve luck.

Eric Savage said:

...follow the brook down to catch the end of the Franconia Falls trail. The going is a bit thicker in spots but there is also some evidence of herd paths. In general you want to keep the brook in sight but don't hesitate to move away from it when staying close would take you into patches of flood debris. Eventually you should find an extension of the Franconia Falls spur trail - someday I'll have to see how far up that goes.
I don't know how viable this route is after a heavy rain but it wasn't too bad on a day when we were just barely able to keep our boots on at the upper three crossings (BTW IMO all three are potentially dangerous and should be counted).

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Tuco and I did it this way on 9/3/05, about two days after the remnants of Katrina hit this area and raised the East Branch to dangerous levels; water levels were still high then (see related thread). Very easy to stay within sight of the brook, and there were no significant brook crossings along the way. The bushwhack was annoying due to trees & mud, but not thick spruce/fir like at 3000'+ elevations. Both ends of the bushwhack have fairly well-defined herd paths.

I did the bushwack up through the Franconia Falls trail last fall. I stayed to the west of Franconia Brook and then along the Lincoln Brook until I intersected with the Lincoln Brook Trail. Although it hadn't rained in the past week the way it has recently I don't recall any significant water crossings, which was the reason I did the bushwack in the firstplace. I did hike the normal trails back out wearing sandals at the two major crossings while wading through the brooks. At the end of the official Franconia Falls Trail there were signs of herd paths as mentioned in previous posts. The herd paths faded out in places, but it was still fairly easy to stay on course. This was my first attempt at bushwacking and the brooks provided a fairly easy handrail to follow.