KRobi
New member
On Sunday the 19th my wife Karen and I set out for what should have happened about a year ago, which was to finish the 48. With a delay due to a broken foot (Karen's) we set our sights on this summer. We had a great time doing the last 10 and had planned on Isolation and Owl's Head as our last two. We did Isolation for #47 on the FOT48 on a spectacular day, which left Owl's Head for last. We got an early start, meeting at the parking lot at 5:30. Our friends Steve, Beth (Damselfly) and Ant (Anthony) and dog Skipper met us for the grand finale. Steve rode his bike to the Black Pond Trail as he didn't need the peak and the rest of us set off on the Lincoln Woods trail under headlamp. We reached the Black Pond trail quickly and started the one mile hike to the pond. We reached the south end of the pond as daylight was breaking for some great views. We went around the pond and then using Beth's GPS coordinates and Big Earls info we started on the bushwhack. It was easy going and we reached Lincoln Brook Trail much faster than I thought we would (easy cutoff of 1.5miles). Shortly after reaching the trail we crossed Lincoln Brook (rock hopping) and were at the Owl's Head Path. The markings at the base with the carved arrows have been "enhanced" with neon green paint. Up the slide we went with some views back at Franconia Ridge, but clouds covered the peaks. It went quickly and we reached the "old" summit in no time (probably due to the excitement we were both feeling). We met Tom and his dog Ruby at this summit and Tom commented on "this is why people leave this one until last". We congratulated Tom on finishing but then informed him that the real summit was a bit further. Oh well what's another 1/4 mile at this point? We headed off and easily followed the trail to the summit. With much fanfare and relief we celebrated with a couple of beverages and toasting. Tom and Ruby departed for the slow climb down. We stayed at the summit eating and chatting and then it was time to go down. We took the Brutus Bushwhack down, again thanks to Beth's GPS and it put us right at the brook crossing. A quick rock hop and we were headed home. We came back the trails so we took Lincoln Brook all the way to Franconia Brook Trail. The second crossing of LB was also rock hoppable and then we were at Franconia Brook. We did wade/rock hop but some others just rock hopped downstream. The walk out was pleasant and went fast. A quick cleanup at the car and off we went to Woodstock Station to celebrate a great finish! Can't wait for the next list (Winter, 52, NHAT) to work on. Thanks Beth, Steve and Ant for finishing with us. Looking forward to many more together.
Ken
Ken
