Questions on First Solo Backpacking Route

[dundare]

Hi everyone,

I am planning my first solo backpacking trip for the end of the month and was thinking of the following:

Day 1) Lincoln Woods Trail to Franconia Brook Trail to 13 falls
Day 2) Franconia Brook Trail to Garfield Ridge Trail to summit Garfield and either then just chill on the summit for a while and and spend a second night at 13 Falls or from 13 Falls take the Lincoln Brook Trail over towards the Owl's Head Path and camp somewhere along there for the night.
Day 3) Summit Owl's Head and return to car.

Any thoughts on the route or itinerary?

Any Suggestions on where to camp when not at 13 Falls or if I get a late start heading up and decide to just camp somewhere off the Franconia Brook Trail?

How early would I need to get to 13 Falls on a Thursday or Friday during the summer to snag a spot?

Are there any good swimming holes in either Franconia Brook or Twin brook near 13 falls?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cheers,
Dundare

Edit - I realize some people do this as a long day hike.

 

[sapblatt]

13 Falls

I will be camping at 13 Falls later next week. I have heard that space is not often an issue there as it is quite remote.

 

[hikerfast]

I did this july 4,5,6 of 1984.
day 1. hike to 13 falls from kanc(lincoln woods trail to franconia brook trail). set up camp. take a small pack and climb garfield and hang on summit a while, then hike back to camp.
day 2. day hike on twin brook trail to galehead hut, take spur up to galehead mountain. Go back down spur to the hut. take twinway up south twin, spur to north twin and back over south twin and down to the hut, then twin brook tail back to camp.
day 3. take down your camp, take lincoln brook trail around owls head, leave pack at base of slide, and bag owls head. come back down and head back out lincoln brook trail to lincoln woods trail to your car.
Gorgeous trip. lot of summits, and some really cool territory.
downside: the lincoln brook trail from 13 falls to owls head slide area was somewhat of a swamp, but was doable. It's interesting to be in such a remote area.

I did this one july1, 2, 3 of 1984.
day 1. lincoln woods trail(turns into wilderness trail after 3 miles) to Bondcliff trail. climb over Bondcliff, Mt. Bond. Drop your pack at the West Bond Spur and hang on West Bond awhile. Go down to Guyot campsite and camp out for the night.
day 2. take up camp, go on Bondcliff trail over Mt. Guyot. Take a right on the twinway over Zealand Mountain, make sure you check out the Zeacliff spur. Follow twinway to Zealand Hut and sit at the falls. Take your day pack and bag Mt. Hale by the Lend a Hand Trail if you like. Take your backpack and go down the twinway to the Ethan Pond Trail. Bang a right and go to Thoreau Falls and camp near there.
day 3. Take the Thoreau falls trail to the Wilderness Trail. Bang a right and follow to the Lincoln Woods trail back to the Kanc and your car.
This is another gorgeous trip with lots of summits and scenery.

 

[Jim lombard]

Are there any good swimming holes in either Franconia Brook or Twin brook near 13 falls?

Franconia Falls off Wilderness trail is a great place to visit. Also the river crossings on Lincoln Brook trail are almost like swimming holes right now Here is one of Nartrebs pictures from last weekend

 

[BrentD22]

Looks like plan..

The hike sounds like a fine first solo.

Franconia Falls is busy at times, but worth dealing with the crowds. Here is a web site with some good pictures. The swimming area is about 5 mins. North from the Wilderness Tr. (take left before the walking bridge). There is a water fall that is a nature water slide. You get shot down about 15 feet then off of a 8 foot drop into a large pool of water. It's super cold water, but it feels great. There are some other spots around the water fall you can swim in and explore for hours.

If your planning on hiking back out on the Wilderness Trail bring a intertube and several trash bags. Blow up the intertube, put your backpack in several trash bags tying each of them very good (I bring 5 bags). The trash bags if tied correctly should not leak much. Jump into the Pemi and float back to the trail head. It's nice and cold to cool your sore legs and give you time to relax before getting into a car all stinky from your hike.

 

[MichaelJ]

Oh great, now a debate on if floating "counts".

On a real note, I would not try to camp around the Owl's Head base. The rangers take the Wilderness regs very seriously around there, and it can be very difficult to find a legal spot. Some people are lucky and get away with staying in an existing clearing; others are herded out late at night.

I would enjoy the "base camping" concept to its fullest by spending both nights at Franconia Falls. It's really a free feeling to head out and enjoy the middle day and just come back to an already-setup campsite. To that end, bring a small pack with you that you can use as a day pack, just water, snacks, shell, the necessities. Use that for your second-day day hike as well a on your final day to go up Owl's Head, leaving the rest of your gear at the base of the slide.

 

[John S]

13 Falls would be a good base camp for both peaks and you shouldn’t have much trouble finding a site on a Thursday. For cooling off, look for a couple of large pools just up the Lincoln Brook Trail from the falls.

Be aware that Lincoln Brook Trail may be a little hard to follow near the height of land and again just north of the Owl’s Head slide. If the large cairn marking the herd path is gone, you’ll know you are in the general area when you come across some obvious campsites with no camping signs. If you decide to camp near the slide on your way out, I believe you must cross to the west side of Lincoln Brook to find a legal site.

Sounds like a fun trip.

 

[dundare]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the responses. It has been very helpful. I had a couple more questions:

Is camping allowed at Franconia Falls? MichaelJ referenced using it as a base camp, but I had thought that use of that area was pretty restricted.

Are there bear cannisters at 13 Falls or should I plan on hanging my food?

It looks like I will be going up Friday - I can leave pretty early from the Boston area, what time does 13 falls start to fill up?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[John S]

I believe you are right re Franconia Falls. Last I knew it was a day use area requiring a permit obtained from the rangers at Lincoln Woods on a space-available basis. Perhaps MichaelJ meant the Franconia Brook Campsites at the end of the East Side Truck Road? Or maybe 13 Falls? 13 Falls would be the more practical base camp for what you intend to do.

There should be a bear locker at 13 Falls during caretaker season, replacing the old bear line, which was removed.

Hard to say when anything will fill up, especially on a nice weekend. However, time is on your side as it’s only about a three-hour trip from Lincoln Woods. Leaving early from Boston, you should be okay.