kltilton
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- Nov 22, 2004
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Owls’ Head 8/15/05
It started out as a day where I needed to get an easy 17 miles on the trails to get my long run in for the week. By 8:15 PM we had run up and down one of the most remote 4000 footers in the White Mountains.
I called my friend Tim on a Monday afternoon seeing if he was interested in a long crazy mountain run. He was up for the 18-mile challenge, even though it was about 4PM by the time I called him. My girlfriend Jess was our chauffeur to the Lincoln Woods trailhead, as she had to go to Plymouth for some errands. We headed out on the trail as she told us that we were crazy (like I haven’t heard that before.)
I have run the Wilderness Trail a few times and knew about the railroad ties and the long straight stretches. Tim had never been there before and was amazed at the quality running found in this neck of the woods.
After reaching the Wilderness boundary we turned onto the Franconia Brook Trail; new territory for the both of us. We found the trail to be more runnable than we expected. And it was so quiet. The thing that I love about the White Mountains is that there are always new trails and areas to experience. A friend had told me about the trails around the base of Owl’s Head and said it was like another world. He was right.
After turning onto the Lincoln Brook Trail we saw a pretty cool bog covered in bright green pond scum. We kept moving along at a pretty good clip crossing over streams and passing one couple that was on their way out of the woods. They gave us a funny look seeing that we were headed out to Owl’s Head that late in the day.
After crossing over a couple more streams and looking at our map we finally found the cairn marking the Owl’s Head Slide Path. Neither of us new what to expect from this un-maintained herd path. We found it quite easy to follow once we noticed the multi colored blazes painted on the trees. Scurrying up the slide was an adventure, as Tim was cruising and I was sucking wind. We got some nice views of the Franconia Ridge and Lincoln Slide. We both remarked how a crazy guide friend of ours (cough..Marc..cough) would probably ski down the Lincoln Slide.
We made it to the summit in an hour and 46 minutes after jumping over quite a few downed trees. Tim asked me how the views were and I had to inform him that there were none from the summit. He was cool with that. He was more interested in going out for a cool new run. After snapping a few photos we headed back down to the slide where Tim showed me how to put your life on the line on more than one occasion. I swear this man has no regard for his life when running downhill. Yes, I said running down the Owl’s Head Slide.
We made it back to the Lincoln Woods Trailhead, 3:20:26 after we started. The last 20 minutes or so were in the dark, dodging railroad ties. It was a cool run in a new place. I’m looking forward to exploring more trails in that area.
A few photos
It started out as a day where I needed to get an easy 17 miles on the trails to get my long run in for the week. By 8:15 PM we had run up and down one of the most remote 4000 footers in the White Mountains.
I called my friend Tim on a Monday afternoon seeing if he was interested in a long crazy mountain run. He was up for the 18-mile challenge, even though it was about 4PM by the time I called him. My girlfriend Jess was our chauffeur to the Lincoln Woods trailhead, as she had to go to Plymouth for some errands. We headed out on the trail as she told us that we were crazy (like I haven’t heard that before.)
I have run the Wilderness Trail a few times and knew about the railroad ties and the long straight stretches. Tim had never been there before and was amazed at the quality running found in this neck of the woods.
After reaching the Wilderness boundary we turned onto the Franconia Brook Trail; new territory for the both of us. We found the trail to be more runnable than we expected. And it was so quiet. The thing that I love about the White Mountains is that there are always new trails and areas to experience. A friend had told me about the trails around the base of Owl’s Head and said it was like another world. He was right.
After turning onto the Lincoln Brook Trail we saw a pretty cool bog covered in bright green pond scum. We kept moving along at a pretty good clip crossing over streams and passing one couple that was on their way out of the woods. They gave us a funny look seeing that we were headed out to Owl’s Head that late in the day.
After crossing over a couple more streams and looking at our map we finally found the cairn marking the Owl’s Head Slide Path. Neither of us new what to expect from this un-maintained herd path. We found it quite easy to follow once we noticed the multi colored blazes painted on the trees. Scurrying up the slide was an adventure, as Tim was cruising and I was sucking wind. We got some nice views of the Franconia Ridge and Lincoln Slide. We both remarked how a crazy guide friend of ours (cough..Marc..cough) would probably ski down the Lincoln Slide.
We made it to the summit in an hour and 46 minutes after jumping over quite a few downed trees. Tim asked me how the views were and I had to inform him that there were none from the summit. He was cool with that. He was more interested in going out for a cool new run. After snapping a few photos we headed back down to the slide where Tim showed me how to put your life on the line on more than one occasion. I swear this man has no regard for his life when running downhill. Yes, I said running down the Owl’s Head Slide.
We made it back to the Lincoln Woods Trailhead, 3:20:26 after we started. The last 20 minutes or so were in the dark, dodging railroad ties. It was a cool run in a new place. I’m looking forward to exploring more trails in that area.
A few photos
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