sapblatt
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Day One –
A couple of months ago after meeting Audrey, and seeing Pat after twenty years (I worked for him in the mid 80s) we discussed the idea of backpacking to 13 Falls and getting Owl’s Head, one of my few remaining 48s. Finally – the big weekend arrived.
Pat and Audrey came up with Julie (cantdog) and I met them and Kris (LittleBear) at the Park & Ride in Concord and we drove up in two cars. By 9AM everyone had told me I was carrying too much (what else is new?) and we were loaded up and ready to hit the Wilderness Trail from the Lincoln Woods lot.
For carrying way too much weight (all basically “backup” food that I did not eat) I was feeling real glad that this hike has gentle to no grade to 13 Falls. We all marveled at how nice the weather was compared to the horrible heat and humidity of the past week and all felt real comfortable. About two miles in we met up with two rangers and had a nice talk for a few minutes. Apparently everyone else they had met that day was heading to Bondcliff – no one was heading our way. Very quickly we found ourselves at the bridge near Franconia Falls and we made our turn onto the Franconia Brook Trail.
This trail is also quite level and gently graded – got to love the old railroad beds! After passing the south junction of the Lincoln Brook Trail we took a quick brake near a real nice Beaver Pond. By this time I was already amazed at Pat and Audrey’s knowledge of flora and fungi. I just wish I had a memory for that kind of stuff. Soon after departing from the break we came across a small lavender colored orchid which I already forgot the name of (Audrey – HELP!) And Julie came across one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in the forest – a frog that was smaller than my pinky nail How she noticed it on a log we were crossing a bog on without stepping on it was amazing!?
We continued on taking one other short break probably with in 1-2 miles of 13 Falls. We arrived at the tent site at 1:30 and set up camps and enjoyed wine and food on the beautiful rocks near the falls. If you ever try to chill white wine in the water here it is strongly recommended that you use a GPS to log the exact coordinates to where the wine is located!
Julie brought bruschetta and cheese and Audrey made a delicious bean soup for diner that went great with Kris’s Mexican Corn Pie, which also served as breakfast. I contributed brownies that were quite popular with everyone, and the few that were left were a very welcome snack on Sunday!
Emily, the caretaker took some time talking to us about how crowded it can be on a Saturday night and asked us if we could double up our tents (we had four tents between.) If you have not been to 13 Falls you would not know this, but the tent sites are very small and barely have enough space for a small backpacking tent. So we all sort of smiled and did not move anything. After seeing what Kris went through to get her stakes into the bedrock I do not think there was anyone or anyhow she could have been convinced to move! My tent site had a bout six square feet left after I set up! Fortunately for us and all, the site did not overfill this week.
After dinner, dessert and clean up we were all in our tents by about 8:30PM. I do not think anyone slept well for various reasons from, being cold to being terrified of every noise heard (OK…that one was me.) The one big noise that startled me the most in the middle of the night turned out to be a good size Birch tree that came down form the wind. It fell across the trail near the outhouse. I also think my snoring after I finally fell asleep around 4AM reverberated through the sites and woke a few people earlier than they had hoped.
Breakfast and breakdown were done and we were on our way by about 9AM, all while Emily was whacking the birch tree with her ax. Pat speculated that Emily drew my picture on the birch before chopping for my refusal to move my tent...I think offering her brownies probably spared me!
To be continued…
A couple of months ago after meeting Audrey, and seeing Pat after twenty years (I worked for him in the mid 80s) we discussed the idea of backpacking to 13 Falls and getting Owl’s Head, one of my few remaining 48s. Finally – the big weekend arrived.
Pat and Audrey came up with Julie (cantdog) and I met them and Kris (LittleBear) at the Park & Ride in Concord and we drove up in two cars. By 9AM everyone had told me I was carrying too much (what else is new?) and we were loaded up and ready to hit the Wilderness Trail from the Lincoln Woods lot.
For carrying way too much weight (all basically “backup” food that I did not eat) I was feeling real glad that this hike has gentle to no grade to 13 Falls. We all marveled at how nice the weather was compared to the horrible heat and humidity of the past week and all felt real comfortable. About two miles in we met up with two rangers and had a nice talk for a few minutes. Apparently everyone else they had met that day was heading to Bondcliff – no one was heading our way. Very quickly we found ourselves at the bridge near Franconia Falls and we made our turn onto the Franconia Brook Trail.
This trail is also quite level and gently graded – got to love the old railroad beds! After passing the south junction of the Lincoln Brook Trail we took a quick brake near a real nice Beaver Pond. By this time I was already amazed at Pat and Audrey’s knowledge of flora and fungi. I just wish I had a memory for that kind of stuff. Soon after departing from the break we came across a small lavender colored orchid which I already forgot the name of (Audrey – HELP!) And Julie came across one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in the forest – a frog that was smaller than my pinky nail How she noticed it on a log we were crossing a bog on without stepping on it was amazing!?
We continued on taking one other short break probably with in 1-2 miles of 13 Falls. We arrived at the tent site at 1:30 and set up camps and enjoyed wine and food on the beautiful rocks near the falls. If you ever try to chill white wine in the water here it is strongly recommended that you use a GPS to log the exact coordinates to where the wine is located!
Julie brought bruschetta and cheese and Audrey made a delicious bean soup for diner that went great with Kris’s Mexican Corn Pie, which also served as breakfast. I contributed brownies that were quite popular with everyone, and the few that were left were a very welcome snack on Sunday!Emily, the caretaker took some time talking to us about how crowded it can be on a Saturday night and asked us if we could double up our tents (we had four tents between.) If you have not been to 13 Falls you would not know this, but the tent sites are very small and barely have enough space for a small backpacking tent. So we all sort of smiled and did not move anything. After seeing what Kris went through to get her stakes into the bedrock I do not think there was anyone or anyhow she could have been convinced to move! My tent site had a bout six square feet left after I set up! Fortunately for us and all, the site did not overfill this week.
After dinner, dessert and clean up we were all in our tents by about 8:30PM. I do not think anyone slept well for various reasons from, being cold to being terrified of every noise heard (OK…that one was me.) The one big noise that startled me the most in the middle of the night turned out to be a good size Birch tree that came down form the wind. It fell across the trail near the outhouse. I also think my snoring after I finally fell asleep around 4AM reverberated through the sites and woke a few people earlier than they had hoped.
Breakfast and breakdown were done and we were on our way by about 9AM, all while Emily was whacking the birch tree with her ax. Pat speculated that Emily drew my picture
on the birch before chopping for my refusal to move my tent...I think offering her brownies probably spared me! To be continued…
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