Owl's Head 2/24/08; Rols W48th!

[Jason Berard]

Rols, Paradox, myself, Luis, Peter and Diane met at Lincoln Woods to hike Owl's Head yesterday at 6:45am. It was 8* when we started, but we knew it would be warming up to near freezing by the end of the day. Off we went down the Wilderness Tr. at a good clip. The views down the Pemi River were beautiful with the sun just coming up. We could see the moon to our west as we crossed the bridge. We headed up the Black Pond Tr. to the bushwack, which was well broken out, and were passed by Keith, who we would see later at the summit. We followed the glaring orange " blazes" til we got to a point where " two roads diverged in the woods" and we took the high road, which avoids the swampy area, and puts you out higher up on the Lincoln Brook Tr, " and that has made all the difference" . On we went to the Brook crossing, which, at this point I would not use. As we crossed on the way in, Diane yelled "oh Baby! Oh Baby!, as the ice cracked below her. Mostly, the ice stayed intact, but we wondered what we would find on our way out, after things had warmed up a bit......
After we all crossed safely, we went 200 ft, and started the " Brutus" bushwack.This, too was well trodden, and I would hardly call it a bushwack, save for two short dense sections near the top. The path of this packed whack went higher than what I think is the traditional Brutus bushwhack, and put us right on the summit, well above the end of the slide. we went to both summits, gave each other a hearty congratulations, especially Rols, who finished his 3rd round of the NH48, and his 1st W48! After we all had a snack, and something to drink, we headed down, and were at the brook crossing in short order. This time, I was the guinea pig, and as I crossed, a chuck of ice gacve way below me but I made it across just fine. The last to cross was Luis, and the same happened to him, but we all stayed dry, and headed back to the Black Pond 'whack. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but we did meet Dr. D at the Wilderness Tr. jct. doing his annual Pemi ski-through. Sorry we bailed on Woodstock Station, Dr. D, we were too beat, and just hit McD's and headed home instead. We were out at 7 pm, so it was a long day, but the conditions were perfect for this hike, what with the weather, and the trail conditions. I want to thank everyone for making this a memorable hike, and a special congrats for Rols!!
I also want to thank Rols for sharing all his ideas for cheap, great gear and food ideas for hiking. Rols- I went and got some B&M canned brown bread this morning, and the Kraft parmesan cheese container is almost empty!!

Paradox took most of the pictures for this trip, so I hope he'll post them when he gets a chance. I'll post my couple pics later today. Rols- I know you took some too...

 

[bobandgeri]

Congrats!! Wasn't it a great day yesterday - from Flume and Liberty we couldn't see any clouds anywhere in the White Mountains!

 

[Jason Berard]

I agree! I've never seen a sky so blue..it looked like it was... glowing..... for lack of a better word.

 

[marchowes]

Very good! Congrats Rols on finishing your W48! Glad you guys had a nice route to follow up OH. Those woods are pretty nice and open. Thats two open Birch Forests for you in one week Jason! Am I noticing a trend?

 

[Jason Berard]

I was thinking the same thing! The BP 'whack was nearly all yellow birch, and Brutus was all white birch. That FW trail up Hale is in a class by itself, though.

 

[sapblatt]

Congrats to Rols!

Jason - nice TR - hope to see some pics!
Paul/Rols - congrats on the 48 - you worked very hard at it and I look forward to more hikes with you in the future - but not Owl's Head in winter!
Great job!

 

[BIGEarl]

Rols, Congratulations on getting Owl's Head, finishing the W48, and doing it on probably the best day of the season. Wish I was there. Now I have to re-think next weekend.

You had some great company for the hike.

Well done to all.

Earl

 

[Paradox]

Last LB Crossing Now Known as "The O Baby, O Baby!"

Yesss! Congratulations Rols! Good time had by all! I'll post pictures late this evening. Great day to be out in the woods and up in the mountains!

 

[Tuco]

Nice job by the group on the hike.

Rols- Congrats on the W48! You finished up this year with a flurry of awseome hikes and peaks- wish I could have been there for your final. We had a great day Saturday and were thinking of your trip.

More great stuff to come- I can think of a week in September we are going to enjoy

 

[Paradox]

Here are the pictures I took of the Meetup group.

Pictures

Edit: added Google Earth tracks and some NAD 27 GPS waypoints

 

[Jason Berard]

Thanks for being group photographer! I liked the one from the bridge, and the action video the best! I'm glad I didn't wipe out!
It was good hiking with you, Paradox. Hope we get to hike together again. Good luck with the training for Rainier!

 

[Silverfox]

Owl's Head

Hey Jason

nice report there on such a blue bird perfect day..I looked down from the summit of Liberty for specks over that way but i may have been too early..I would agree...there is nothing so sweet as a birch woods bushwack...views and everything.....Congrats to the finishers on Owls Head!!

 

[Rols]

It was a nice chance to meet & hike with some more VFTT people and to hike with some meetup people as well. It was a perfect day. While I had planned not to finish the W48 on Owl's Head, it really was an ideal way to finish. It was a great hike with good people. I enjoyed meeting you all. It was another great Winter hike of 2008.

Paradox, thanks for the great pictures. You did a great job of capturing the day.

Jason, I expect a full report on the brown bread.

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of my W48. Ultimately it was the people along the way even more than the peaks that made the journey special. To the many hiking companions, people encountered on the trails, those who shared trail advice you have made the experience a rich one.

 

[Bobby]

Way to go Rols! Great job by everyone. Loved the pictures, awesome job.

 

[poison ivy]

Congratulations Rols!

- Ivy

 

[danno]

congratulations Rols on your w48!!

Also nice TR Jason, and nice photos Paradox.

 

[una_dogger]

Sweet!

Congrats all around.

 

[adamiata]

Congratulations.

I'm surprised that last water crossing held up. I felt lucky to get across it on Saturday.

Glad to see Diane caught up with you,

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but we did meet Dr. D at the Wilderness Tr. jct. doing his annual Pemi ski-through. Sorry we bailed on Woodstock Station, Dr. D, we were too beat, and just hit McD's and headed home instead. We were out at 7 pm, so it was a long day, but the conditions were perfect for this hike, what with the weather, and the trail conditions. I want to thank everyone for making this a memorable hike, and a special congrats for Rols!!

Nice meeting you guys at the BP/LW trail junction. By the time that I got back from driving my two Pemi ski-through compatriots around to Twin for car retrieval, it was pushing 8:30 pm when I arrived at the Station, just in time to see the last couple of minutes of the C's game. I was pretty whipped, so did not hang around either. Congrats again on your W48 Rols!