Owl's Head

[dms]

Very interesting hike to the "summit" of OH today. I was covering the peak for the Flags On The 48, expecting to see no one else there except for myself and my two friends who joined me for the trip. We came in via the Black Pond bushwack route, making very good time. As we arrived at the "trail" up the slide who should join us but the FS ranger who's been talked about in some recent threads here on VFTT. It was though he had been waiting for us, his first words to us after "good morning" were, are you the Flags group? I said that we were and that since it was getting towards noon we would have to get moving. All the while we were standing next to the "new" cairn at the start of the trail, someone had also laid out two large branches in the form of an arrow pointing towards the trail. A few moments after leaving, and starting up the slide, we could hear the cairn being dismantled. In addition to seeing several trees with the blazes being scraped off, we saw two trees with blazes had been cut down . When we arrived at the summit, were we joined shortly by the ranger, and we had a lenghty discussion about the recent events on OH. He was very friendly, but blunt about his feelings concerning the blazes, the cairns and the summit sign, which BTW now sits on his boss's desk, and how those things are not allowed in a wilderness area. There is no doubt in my mind that after we left, he was going to dismantle the small cairn built right next to the tree that used to hold the summit sign. Clearly this ranger is on a mission, and I would ask that no member of VFTT make any effort to rebuild the cairns or mark the trail or the summit in any way. I strongly believe, and my friends do too, that he was there today to "monitor" our activities, my suspicion is that he expected a much larger group to be involved in the hike, and it would be a great opportunity for him to deliver a "message", and it seems that he was successful in doing so. A couple of final thoughts, I was quite surprised to see 4 other people on the summit, including a couple of other VFTTers I met for the first time, J&J, very nice folks. After we left the "summit", we bushwacked northerly along the ridge for about .2 mi to what clearly seems to be a higher bump, my trusty Thommen altimeter showed it to be 20-40 feet higher. All in all a very interesting trip.

 

[sli74]

we had a lenghty discussion about the recent events on OH. He was very friendly, but blunt about his feelings concerning the blazes, the cairns and the summit sign, which BTW now sits on his boss's desk, and how those things are not allowed in a wilderness area.

During this lengthy discussion, did he address the issue of a zillion herd paths doing damage to the area? Thanks for the interesting report.

sli74

 

[dr_wu002]

Always some kind of controversy isn't there? Had we known, Eric and I could have sent one of his 'diet monkeys' over to meet Ranger Dick at the cairn.

Where did you set up the flag? At the traditional summit, I presume. Is there a herd path beginning to form between there and the 0.2 mile away new summit? Is that area cleared at all or just a tree in the woods?

-Dr. Wu

 

[darren]

Did you ask him if cutting down trees is allowed in a Wilderness area?

- darren

 

[dms]

Thanks for the interest all! We had a very spirited discussion on his methods of trying to remove the trail improvements, and that we thought that the scraping of the blazes was really an eyesore, but he was adamant in his resolve to enforce the "regulations". In fact, someone had tied a red shoelace around the summit tree and he told us that was going to disappear before he left. We used the summit tree as a flagpole, yikes! And yes, there is already a herd path being created to the northern bump. We found a small cairn near a tree on the northern bump, I am sure that will disappear once he goes over there. In fact, while we were sitting talking with him, 3 other people came back from a trip to the "new" summit! One other criticism he had was that some people had been using the cairns to dispose of rubbish. All in all, this situation has the makings of a spirited dispute between the FS and the 4k hiking community, I am going to suggest that someone from the AMC 4k commitee make immediate contact with the FS office to get a dialogue going.

 

[Tim Seaver]

Absurd

No doubt Ranger "Dick Danger"'s next worthwhile goal in breaking the back of the "4k insurgency" will be confiscation of all maps showing a "trail" leading to the summit of Owl's Head. It will be a long hard battle, but I am sure he will stay the course until the last of the renegade peakbaggers have been locked up and sent to Gitmo for de-programming.

Does he seriously think that his actions will have anything but a negative effect on the area?

He sounds like a classic "enforcement Nazi" personality, who is so obsessed with their own power and it's application that they have little regard for the end result.

 

[darren]

I just had an idea.....if people blazed enough trees on Owls Head, then the summit could have awesome views! Someone should at least blaze the summit tree. Then it would be easy to just find the stump.

Talk about someone not seeing the forest for the trees. There is just no logic in scraping or cutting down trees. None.

- darren

 

[Tom Rankin]

I was covering the peak for the Flags On The 48

I saw your flag! I was on North Twin with large binoculars. I could see it waving in a small breeze once in a while. Good job!

 

[dr_wu002]

I saw your flag! I was on North Twin with large binoculars. I could see it waving in a small breeze once in a while. Good job!

Binoculars to look at flags on other peaks... DOH!

-Dr. Wu

 

[jade]

Seema, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, DON'T EXAGGERATE!! There are nowhere near one zillion herd paths!! If that was true, it wouldn't have taken us close to three hours to bushwhack east to the Franconia Brook Trail!!

I think DMS's suggestion of dialog between the USFS and AMC is an excellent one. I do think that 4kers disobedience can be part of this effort as well--a sort of universal sign (cairns, red shoe laces, green bandanas) language that we intend to assist our fellow hikers in safely ascenting Owl's Head as well as avoiding the myriad of distracting and distructive herd paths....We don't need to resort to the type of distruction that is being perpetrated by Mr. Head.

....Jade

 

[spencer]

Have Ranger Dick [Head]'s supervisors been notified? Just b/c his supervisor has the summit sign on his desk doesn't mean he condones felling trees and bad publicity for an already distrusted bunch of servants...

spencer

 

[Tom Rankin]

Binoculars to look at flags on other peaks... DOH!

You bet!

I saw N/S Twin, Lincoln, Liberty, Lafayette, Cannon, Garfield, Owl's Head, Gale Head, Washington (I think), Bond (or one of his friends), Tripyramid (I think), Carrigain (I think). Probably could have seen Hale, Tom, Zealand, Willie, Field, but I was usually on the wrong side of the mountain. :-(

Next year I might even bring a small telescope!

 

[MadRiver]

Although I do agree with most of the regulations that govern wilderness areas, I do believe that cutting down healthy trees to make a point is somewhat antithetical to the intent of the wilderness act. I wondering if Mike Dickerman might be willing to write an article about the seemingly inconsistency of the FS’s recent cutting practice.

 

[dms]

One more thought about the OH situation. After we went to the "new" summit bump, we descended the north ridge of OH, big mistake as the vegetation was bad, to intercept the Lincoln Brook Trail at the height of land, we the proceeded to 13 Falls and out via the Franconia Brook Trail. About 2 miles from the intersection with the Wilderness Trail, is a badly flooded area in the trail as a result of beaver activity. The only way around the expanding pond is to walk across the top of the dam itself. The question is, why isn't the FS adressing this problem with some sort of bypass or temporary bridge, on a trail heading to a popular camping area, rather than so much of it's efforts being expended on the OH trail?

 

[JCE]

Think we met this guy Friday afternoon...

We had just completed the Twins and Bonds and came down to the Wilderness Trail. Took a brief break and this FS Ranger came by. He was friendly and since we were just sitting there we started to talk. I mentioned the FOT48 coming up on Sunday - he said he didn't know much about it "they just do it, they don't have to check in with us". I asked if he was out looking for lost tourists and he said "no", he had a GPS that he barely knew how to use and said he was mapping out illegal camp sites so others (rangers) would know where to look for people. I said "oh" and moved on.

As a side note, we were on Lafayette Sunday and enjoyed the whole day.

/JCE

 

[SilentCal]

I met the same ranger Saturday morning that you met DMS. I was helping some of the Zealand Flagbearers up the Wilderness Trail when we ran into him and he asked about the PVC that everyone was carting up. I mentioned Flags and he said he was going to be on Owl's Head the next day to observe it.

Big Thank You to you DMS for picking up Owl's Head in the last waning days. It was very appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

 

[J&J]

I thought I would include a few pictures of yesterday's hike up OH. But first, it was a pleasure to meet "dms" in between OH summits. Great job hoisting the flag up the slide.

We have met and talked with the ranger in question a couple of times now on different summits. Personally I think he's a good guy but maybe a little too earnest. His take is that he's just enforcing the regulations. Why can't we work out a compromise?

We don't need the blue blazes, we don't need a giant cairn at the start of the trail or a giant cairn on the summit. We don't need any other kind of markers that represent the summit whether it be a shoestring or a sign. Not all summits have signs or cairns.

If the USFS could just let a small cairn stand at the turn for the slide off the Lincoln Brook trail, that's all most people need. Maybe they could also let the recent small cairn stand on the new "true" summit until the herd path gets well established. This slide has been in use long before it went into wilderness classification. A small compromise from the USFS is all that's needed.

 

[sli74]

Seema, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, DON'T EXAGGERATE!! There are nowhere near one zillion herd paths!! If that was true, it wouldn't have taken us close to three hours to bushwhack east to the Franconia Brook Trail!!

....Jade

Not Yet

sli74

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

"If the USFS could just let a small cairn stand at the turn for the slide off the Lincoln Brook trail, that's all most people need." from J&J above.

In another VFTT thread, there is mention of a new USFS sign on the Lincoln Brook Trail at the foot of the OH spur threatening a hefty fine for maintenance of the spur trail. Is not this sign sufficient in lieu of a small cairn? Would not it be better to stop rebuilding cairns so that Ranger Dick can get back to more pressing business, like brushing and cleaning water bars on official USFS trails (just kidding!)?

 

[dms]

Dr. D., the sign is not visible from the LBT, it's up on the slide a ways. But at any rate, I think it's best for the moment to desist from rebuilding the cairn. First, the ranger will remove it every time, and secondly, it just creates further friction with the FS. If hikers can just remember that the slide starts about 10 minutes after the second crossing of LB, the foot way is so clear, no one should get lost or miss it.