Owl's Head / Franconia Brook Trail footwear question

[csprague]

I may do this on Saturday, but was wondering, given the length, if hiking boots are necessary for anything other than the slide? My feet might appreciate sneakers if I can get away with it.

Also, I would suspect that finding water is no issue along this trail, but are there any significant stretches where you're best off with full bottles? If so, where do they start/end? I want to make my daypack as light as possible while still being safe.

Thanks!

csprague

 

[marnof]

Given it was mainly flat, I used trail runners yesterday, including up and down the slide. No problems, even considering I always wear boots hiking. I do trail run fairly often, and this seemed like a likely candidate for leaving the waffle stompers at home. The water was plentiful along the trail, but I wasn't paying close attention to intervals between streams since I was packing a 100oz. hydration bladder. You might want to top off before going up the slide if you intend to stay for a while.

 

[MichaelJ]

There's often a spring flowing right out of the rock at the top of the slide; however, given the current drought conditions I would not count on that running. Otherwise there's plentiful water, you're following Lincoln Brook (and crossing several feeder streams) most of the way.

I think trail runners / approach shoes are fine as long as they have a sole with a good grip, and as long as your feet & ankles are comfortable doing 18 miles with the lesser support that such footwear provides. I would recommend low-rise gaiters, though, because the slide is very sandy and gravely, and you'll want something to keep all that out of your shoes while you ascend/descend.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

I think trail runners / approach shoes are fine as long as they have a sole with a good grip, and as long as your feet & ankles are comfortable doing 18 miles with the lesser support that such footwear provides.

I had a lot of issues with rolling my ankles until I switched from hiking boots to hiking sneakers. Maybe my ankles are stronger now but I think the ability to feel the rocks and roots is what helped me most.

Last year I switched to water shoes for hikes and backpacking. Took me a while to find a model with a good tread and decent rubber.

http://www.rei.com/product/828718/salomon-techamphibian-3-water-shoes-mens

 

[marnof]

There's often a spring flowing right out of the rock at the top of the slide; however, given the current drought conditions I would not count on that running.

That spring was still flowing yesterday. I imagine you could collect the water with tubing--my filter is a bottle type that wouldn't submerge in the tiny pool of water flowing on the trail. It looked good enough to drink straight, although it was right in the footpath, so I didn't.

 

[csprague]

Thanks everybody. I'll probably bring sneakers and carry boots (neither are very heavy), and plan to refill water instead of carrying a full load, with the exception of the slide.

Though given the warm forecast for Saturday, I may postpone this and brew my Oktoberfest Lager instead Problem is, I already have hikes planned in August and September for Galehead, Garfield, and the Twins, and I really don't want to finish my 4ks on Owl's Head (I only have those 5 left).

Chris

 

[marnof]

Hmmm, that is a tough choice. Looks like you have about a two week window to brew the Octoberfest, and lager it, depending on the gravity. And Garfield or the Twins sound much better to finish on than Owl's Head. I'm teed up to finish with the Bonds in mid-August if all goes well. Good luck with everything!