Umsaskis
New member
Tuesday was a long, LONG trip up Owl's Head. I think I'm either getting old (not likely just yet) or very out of shape from being too busy to properly exercise. Generally I have a grand time out hiking or bushwhacking, but partway through this day I debated turning around just because I was tired, it was going to be a really late night, and I missed my husband! (Waaahhh!...)
I didn't turn around, however. Instead I plugged along punching through the snow - with this kind of unsupporting crust I found it easiest to punch down hard to get through the crust, then step forward. Otherwise, I punched through as I tried to move forward and lost all my forward momentum - well, I'm sure you all know the mechanics of how to slide backward with each step when breaking trail.
The southern slopes of the mountain are really quite beautiful with open birches and rocks. I did enjoy that part. Breaking out (finally) on top of the southern peak on the ridge was nice too, because the steep rocks up to that point did take a VERY long time, figuring out how to ascend them through the brush. From that point north, the ridge was a mixture of open and dense trees, at some points quite easy walking and at others a bit thicker, but nothing really terrible - at least I could always fit between the trees if I twisted just right and closed my eyes to prevent being poked by all the twigs. The snow was fairly consolidated at the top as well; the wind covered my tracks in several places on the way back.
Now, ever since I got back, I've been trying to figure out if I ever made it to the summit. I saw several places that looked like they may have been the "path" coming up from the slide, but they always led nowhere. I've heard that the path was intentionally obliterated this summer, so that may be why I couldn't seem to find it. Looking at the USGS topo map, I've been going over in my head whether I reached each part on the ridge, and my memory fails me as to how many times I leveled off and how many times I started climbing again.
What I remember of the ridgetop is going down into that really steep, deep little gully between the southern and northern bumps (about 0.8 miles from the true summit based on the topo), climbing steeply out of it, and having at least one long, steeper stretch and one long gradual stretch amid all the other stretches that I don't remember. I recall eventually coming to a place where the ridge appeared to reach a high point based on the fact that it was narrow and I could see the sunlight through the tops of the trees in all directions, indicating that I was on a narrow prominance of the land. I went a ways beyond that, and I don't recall correctly but I think it was mostly flat with some uphill. Towards the end I was mostly going on the flat, but kept going because every so often something to the right looked a couple of feet higher. Eventually I detected that the land was beginning to gradually slope downward in all directions, and then I called it good. I never did see the location of the (apparently incorrect) summit sign, and I've been debating with myself whether I actually only got to that first broad flat area a half mile south of the summit. Where I turned around the area was somewhat broad to the east and only sloped down very gradually - which could be either the spot a short distance north of the summit, or the spot a half-mile south of the summit. But based on that narrow top-like area that I reached, I think I did get onto the narrow summit ridge, and continuing until it headed downhill again, I think I got over the true summit. Somebody, please convince me that I was at the summit, before I drive myself crazy trying to figure it out!
So that was my dilemma, and since it had taken me at least an hour to traverse the ridge to that point and it was after 3:00, I turned around. The sun set about when I reached that steep gully again, and I had enough daylight to get over the southern bump and partway down through the steep stuff before I had to pull out my headlamp. I used 3 sets of headlamp batteries in total, before I got back to my truck. I busted the binding on one of my snowshoes halfway back between Lincoln Brook and Black Pond, but was able to nurse it along connected by one grommet to the shoe. The silly thing kept rotating 180 degrees every time I picked up my foot, and sometimes this made me step wrong, but fortunately I only took a few spills. I finally got back to the parking lot at 10:15, to discover that the tailgate on my truck was frozen shut, so I had to lash my skis to the roof rack. I drove home and spent most of the night coughing from pulling cold air into my lungs all day, slept about 4 hours before getting up for a very sleepy day at work.
By the way, at many places along that ridge there are excellent views through the trees of all the surrounding mountains. The Bonds and Twins are just spectactular! I don't think you can see these views from anywhere else, at least not as close.
Nevertheless, I'm going to be very happy to do a lesser hike the next time I go out.
I didn't turn around, however. Instead I plugged along punching through the snow - with this kind of unsupporting crust I found it easiest to punch down hard to get through the crust, then step forward. Otherwise, I punched through as I tried to move forward and lost all my forward momentum - well, I'm sure you all know the mechanics of how to slide backward with each step when breaking trail.
The southern slopes of the mountain are really quite beautiful with open birches and rocks. I did enjoy that part. Breaking out (finally) on top of the southern peak on the ridge was nice too, because the steep rocks up to that point did take a VERY long time, figuring out how to ascend them through the brush. From that point north, the ridge was a mixture of open and dense trees, at some points quite easy walking and at others a bit thicker, but nothing really terrible - at least I could always fit between the trees if I twisted just right and closed my eyes to prevent being poked by all the twigs. The snow was fairly consolidated at the top as well; the wind covered my tracks in several places on the way back.
Now, ever since I got back, I've been trying to figure out if I ever made it to the summit. I saw several places that looked like they may have been the "path" coming up from the slide, but they always led nowhere. I've heard that the path was intentionally obliterated this summer, so that may be why I couldn't seem to find it. Looking at the USGS topo map, I've been going over in my head whether I reached each part on the ridge, and my memory fails me as to how many times I leveled off and how many times I started climbing again.
What I remember of the ridgetop is going down into that really steep, deep little gully between the southern and northern bumps (about 0.8 miles from the true summit based on the topo), climbing steeply out of it, and having at least one long, steeper stretch and one long gradual stretch amid all the other stretches that I don't remember. I recall eventually coming to a place where the ridge appeared to reach a high point based on the fact that it was narrow and I could see the sunlight through the tops of the trees in all directions, indicating that I was on a narrow prominance of the land. I went a ways beyond that, and I don't recall correctly but I think it was mostly flat with some uphill. Towards the end I was mostly going on the flat, but kept going because every so often something to the right looked a couple of feet higher. Eventually I detected that the land was beginning to gradually slope downward in all directions, and then I called it good. I never did see the location of the (apparently incorrect) summit sign, and I've been debating with myself whether I actually only got to that first broad flat area a half mile south of the summit. Where I turned around the area was somewhat broad to the east and only sloped down very gradually - which could be either the spot a short distance north of the summit, or the spot a half-mile south of the summit. But based on that narrow top-like area that I reached, I think I did get onto the narrow summit ridge, and continuing until it headed downhill again, I think I got over the true summit. Somebody, please convince me that I was at the summit, before I drive myself crazy trying to figure it out!
So that was my dilemma, and since it had taken me at least an hour to traverse the ridge to that point and it was after 3:00, I turned around. The sun set about when I reached that steep gully again, and I had enough daylight to get over the southern bump and partway down through the steep stuff before I had to pull out my headlamp. I used 3 sets of headlamp batteries in total, before I got back to my truck. I busted the binding on one of my snowshoes halfway back between Lincoln Brook and Black Pond, but was able to nurse it along connected by one grommet to the shoe. The silly thing kept rotating 180 degrees every time I picked up my foot, and sometimes this made me step wrong, but fortunately I only took a few spills. I finally got back to the parking lot at 10:15, to discover that the tailgate on my truck was frozen shut, so I had to lash my skis to the roof rack. I drove home and spent most of the night coughing from pulling cold air into my lungs all day, slept about 4 hours before getting up for a very sleepy day at work.
By the way, at many places along that ridge there are excellent views through the trees of all the surrounding mountains. The Bonds and Twins are just spectactular! I don't think you can see these views from anywhere else, at least not as close.
Nevertheless, I'm going to be very happy to do a lesser hike the next time I go out.
