Kurchian
Member
When it comes to Owl’s Head, I must admit to falling into the cohort of hikers that only would consider climbing it because it is one of the 48. I’d been putting it off for years because it just didn’t sound like much fun. Conversely, it appeared to be long, difficult and joyless. Yet it had to be done.
As an advanced middle-aged hiker who has gotten out of shape my plan had been to lose some weight and actually use my gym membership. It was becoming increasingly clear that merely paying my monthly membership fee was not going to suffice. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and this was no exception, although I did make it to the gym two or three times!
Fortunately, I did have two hiking companions, Squashman and son Brian. Hiking Owl’s Head alone would have been tough.
I stayed over in Lincoln, had a big breakfast at Peg’s in North Woodstock. I don’t usually eat that much that early and this proved to cause me stomach problems all day. I met Squashman and Brian at Lincoln Woods for a 7:45 departure. Isn’t it funny how easy that northbound trek along Lincoln Woods is so easy and seemingly short when the return seems so long?
We headed up the Black Pond trail for the bushwhack and stopped briefly at the end of the trail to admire our destination as it mocked us over the early morning Black Pond vista. As we are GPS users we had logged in the bushwhack exit point on the Lincoln Brook trail. As many posters have noted this bushwhack is fairly straightforward. As long as you stay up on the ridgeline you’ll avoid the lower wet spots. It is mostly open woods with a minimum of thick brush. Brian, a non-GPS user, led the charge and came out precisely at the confluence of where the trail makes that second difficult crossing. So much for the need for GPS receivers!
We headed west and then northwest over the trail with many muddy spots that could be avoided if you were inclined to straddle the trail edge. After a while the sound of boot-suction sounds filled the air as we trudged straight the wet sections. It was barely possible to negotiate the two easier crossings on the Lincoln Brook trail with hiking boots if you trusted your balance and were willing to accept a few ankle deep hops onto slippery rocks, but a couple of us chose to switch to water shoes. Hiking poles or grabbing one of the straight poles that may be found in the crossing areas is recommended.
After the two smaller crossings the anticipation of locating the Owl’s head slide began. Having read of several hikers walking straight past it prompted me to plug the coordinates into my GPS. Once there it is pretty obvious although there was no cairn. There are two trees on the right side of the trail (when heading north) that have arrows carved. That is the most obvious clue. But they are easily missed when you are in your “hiking zone”. A better clue is the gravel outwash that suddenly appears in the trail and extends for at least 50 feet. That outwash is the bottom of the slide. Others report on the fact that there are a half dozen blow downs at the spot. That is true but that wouldn’t have been a sufficient landmark for me.
We stopped here for lunch as it was past mid-day. We weren’t exactly making world-class time but we didn’t particularly care. It wasn’t boiling hot but sitting down every so often seemed to make sense for us, as we knew we had 10+ miles ahead of us at this point.
Now I had read many descriptions of the slide but I have to admit that its difficulty surprised me. This un-maintained section (you can’t call it a trail!) rises 1500’ in one mile. I’ve climbed many of the tougher trails in the Whites, but this man’s opinion is that it is the single toughest stretch I’ve been on. Many of the sections were wet which added to the difficulty particularly when descending. There is some hand –to-hand scrambling which I like, but I realize that not everyone does. The advantage in going up is that you can better control your center of gravity, hence balance. We took lots of breathers. I can’t remember taking so many in a hike before. As is becoming increasingly clear we weren’t exactly on book time! This is about the only section of the entire trek where there are views. And on a clear day those views up to Franconia Ridge are outstanding. I couldn’t help but to look up at the rocky slide coming off the Franconia Ridge and thinking that particular bushwhack “shortcut” over to Owl’s Head was one that I would pass on, although the trip reports I’ve read are tempting.
Brian led the way up and eventually we all made the old and new summits. Brian veered left as we ascended which appeared to be the correct approach. I appreciated his patience with us as the thirty-year age differential slowed us down considerably. He had a great feeling for finding the best route up and down. We met a group who’d just summited who told us that a caretaker had just been up there and had removed the summit cairns. There were no cairns or signs at either summit when we got there. The descent is easier in terms of rest stops but requires a different skill set as the wet formations and steep portions require some care. I didn’t use my poles because I needed both hands to lower my way down through many of the rock faces. I am glad I had my gaiters on as you are negotiating looser scree as you approach the bottom.
We decided to skip the bushwhack and return home via the established trails. Personally, the two major water crossing didn’t bother me and I was looking forward to cooling off. As is the case with so many hikes each trail section seemed so much longer than the way in. The two big crossings did require taking our boots off. We looked around a little for better crossing points but we didn’t stray very far from the trail area. Brian had Crocs, Squashman had water shoes and I had Teva sandals. All-in-all, the Crocs were probably best and the lightest, to boot. My Teva’s were fine, also, but Squashman felt he lacked traction in his water shoes. When I asked Squashman later about how he felt about the stream crossings he said they weren’t bad except for the fact he lost a sock, fell in twice, broke a pole, and dunked his hiking boots. Um, one doesn’t need to read between the lines on his true feelings! By the way, it is worthwhile keeping your stream-crossing footwear on between crossings as that trail area is relatively gentle and short – less than a half mile. Taking your boots off and on is a major pain and it took awhile for us as we also used this stop to refill our bladders. I had lost my filter on the bushwhack and ended up relying on Squashman’s SteriPen. I was a bit nervous to rely on this magic gadgetry for my drinking water, but what a revelation! Ice-cold oxygenated stream water in abundance is worth a million dollars when deep in the woods on a hot day. Those pens are expensive but 24 hours later I don’t have gaillardia, so I’m a believer. For such a long day it is a major advantage not to carry lots of water.
It’s been said before, but the walk back is a death march. You’re tired and the Lincoln Woods trail is straight and boring. For us it was also dark. We had laughed about the precaution of bringing our headlamps. But they became necessary. Under the trail tree cover it gets dark. And, eventually even the sky gets dark. I guess that happens when you take 13+ hours to bag Owl’s Head and return to your car at 9:30PM!
Normally, my legs ache the day after a long hike. Strangely, I’m fine the day after. Although, this is long and the actual ascent is steep, this hike lacks the typical 4000-foot White Mountain trail expectations. First you don’t have that long pounding descent. For the most part you get most of your elevation in on the slide and the 8 mile return is gently down. Secondly, at least half of the trail is free of roots and rocks. You don’t have to deal with the ankle twisting trail obstacles.
I don’t think I’ll bag Owl’s Head again. But I love talking about having done it. And I don’t’ have to worry about not having done it anymore. That makes 47 – only Carrigain to go.
Owl's Head Hike pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurchian/sets/72157621572320956/
As an advanced middle-aged hiker who has gotten out of shape my plan had been to lose some weight and actually use my gym membership. It was becoming increasingly clear that merely paying my monthly membership fee was not going to suffice. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and this was no exception, although I did make it to the gym two or three times!
Fortunately, I did have two hiking companions, Squashman and son Brian. Hiking Owl’s Head alone would have been tough.
I stayed over in Lincoln, had a big breakfast at Peg’s in North Woodstock. I don’t usually eat that much that early and this proved to cause me stomach problems all day. I met Squashman and Brian at Lincoln Woods for a 7:45 departure. Isn’t it funny how easy that northbound trek along Lincoln Woods is so easy and seemingly short when the return seems so long?
We headed up the Black Pond trail for the bushwhack and stopped briefly at the end of the trail to admire our destination as it mocked us over the early morning Black Pond vista. As we are GPS users we had logged in the bushwhack exit point on the Lincoln Brook trail. As many posters have noted this bushwhack is fairly straightforward. As long as you stay up on the ridgeline you’ll avoid the lower wet spots. It is mostly open woods with a minimum of thick brush. Brian, a non-GPS user, led the charge and came out precisely at the confluence of where the trail makes that second difficult crossing. So much for the need for GPS receivers!
We headed west and then northwest over the trail with many muddy spots that could be avoided if you were inclined to straddle the trail edge. After a while the sound of boot-suction sounds filled the air as we trudged straight the wet sections. It was barely possible to negotiate the two easier crossings on the Lincoln Brook trail with hiking boots if you trusted your balance and were willing to accept a few ankle deep hops onto slippery rocks, but a couple of us chose to switch to water shoes. Hiking poles or grabbing one of the straight poles that may be found in the crossing areas is recommended.
After the two smaller crossings the anticipation of locating the Owl’s head slide began. Having read of several hikers walking straight past it prompted me to plug the coordinates into my GPS. Once there it is pretty obvious although there was no cairn. There are two trees on the right side of the trail (when heading north) that have arrows carved. That is the most obvious clue. But they are easily missed when you are in your “hiking zone”. A better clue is the gravel outwash that suddenly appears in the trail and extends for at least 50 feet. That outwash is the bottom of the slide. Others report on the fact that there are a half dozen blow downs at the spot. That is true but that wouldn’t have been a sufficient landmark for me.
We stopped here for lunch as it was past mid-day. We weren’t exactly making world-class time but we didn’t particularly care. It wasn’t boiling hot but sitting down every so often seemed to make sense for us, as we knew we had 10+ miles ahead of us at this point.
Now I had read many descriptions of the slide but I have to admit that its difficulty surprised me. This un-maintained section (you can’t call it a trail!) rises 1500’ in one mile. I’ve climbed many of the tougher trails in the Whites, but this man’s opinion is that it is the single toughest stretch I’ve been on. Many of the sections were wet which added to the difficulty particularly when descending. There is some hand –to-hand scrambling which I like, but I realize that not everyone does. The advantage in going up is that you can better control your center of gravity, hence balance. We took lots of breathers. I can’t remember taking so many in a hike before. As is becoming increasingly clear we weren’t exactly on book time! This is about the only section of the entire trek where there are views. And on a clear day those views up to Franconia Ridge are outstanding. I couldn’t help but to look up at the rocky slide coming off the Franconia Ridge and thinking that particular bushwhack “shortcut” over to Owl’s Head was one that I would pass on, although the trip reports I’ve read are tempting.
Brian led the way up and eventually we all made the old and new summits. Brian veered left as we ascended which appeared to be the correct approach. I appreciated his patience with us as the thirty-year age differential slowed us down considerably. He had a great feeling for finding the best route up and down. We met a group who’d just summited who told us that a caretaker had just been up there and had removed the summit cairns. There were no cairns or signs at either summit when we got there. The descent is easier in terms of rest stops but requires a different skill set as the wet formations and steep portions require some care. I didn’t use my poles because I needed both hands to lower my way down through many of the rock faces. I am glad I had my gaiters on as you are negotiating looser scree as you approach the bottom.
We decided to skip the bushwhack and return home via the established trails. Personally, the two major water crossing didn’t bother me and I was looking forward to cooling off. As is the case with so many hikes each trail section seemed so much longer than the way in. The two big crossings did require taking our boots off. We looked around a little for better crossing points but we didn’t stray very far from the trail area. Brian had Crocs, Squashman had water shoes and I had Teva sandals. All-in-all, the Crocs were probably best and the lightest, to boot. My Teva’s were fine, also, but Squashman felt he lacked traction in his water shoes. When I asked Squashman later about how he felt about the stream crossings he said they weren’t bad except for the fact he lost a sock, fell in twice, broke a pole, and dunked his hiking boots. Um, one doesn’t need to read between the lines on his true feelings! By the way, it is worthwhile keeping your stream-crossing footwear on between crossings as that trail area is relatively gentle and short – less than a half mile. Taking your boots off and on is a major pain and it took awhile for us as we also used this stop to refill our bladders. I had lost my filter on the bushwhack and ended up relying on Squashman’s SteriPen. I was a bit nervous to rely on this magic gadgetry for my drinking water, but what a revelation! Ice-cold oxygenated stream water in abundance is worth a million dollars when deep in the woods on a hot day. Those pens are expensive but 24 hours later I don’t have gaillardia, so I’m a believer. For such a long day it is a major advantage not to carry lots of water.
It’s been said before, but the walk back is a death march. You’re tired and the Lincoln Woods trail is straight and boring. For us it was also dark. We had laughed about the precaution of bringing our headlamps. But they became necessary. Under the trail tree cover it gets dark. And, eventually even the sky gets dark. I guess that happens when you take 13+ hours to bag Owl’s Head and return to your car at 9:30PM!
Normally, my legs ache the day after a long hike. Strangely, I’m fine the day after. Although, this is long and the actual ascent is steep, this hike lacks the typical 4000-foot White Mountain trail expectations. First you don’t have that long pounding descent. For the most part you get most of your elevation in on the slide and the 8 mile return is gently down. Secondly, at least half of the trail is free of roots and rocks. You don’t have to deal with the ankle twisting trail obstacles.
I don’t think I’ll bag Owl’s Head again. But I love talking about having done it. And I don’t’ have to worry about not having done it anymore. That makes 47 – only Carrigain to go.
Owl's Head Hike pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurchian/sets/72157621572320956/
