Date(s) Hiked: May 3, 2008
Trails(s) Hiked: Lincoln Woods (Wilderness) Trail, Lincoln Brook Trail, various bushwhacks
Total Distance: 15.9 miles, 3000' vertical, 12-1/2 hours
Difficulty: Very difficult
Conditions: Very wet, rotten snow, postholing, borderline water crossings
Special Required Equipment: GPS, map, compass, dry change of clothes, traction, optionally snowshoes
Trip Report:
Una_dogger, Davebear, and I went out to Owl's Head yesterday in the cold, grey rain. This wasn't just a hike, it was an epic adventure!
We did two completely different twists on the Black Pond bushwhack. On the way out we tended just a bit west of magnetic north, not far off the "traditional" whack, and through open, relatively dry woods hit the Lincoln Brook Trail approximately 0.15 miles west of the crossing.
Snow line was around 3500'. Conditions were very difficult with rotten snow, postholing, a "monorail" in places to try to follow, and of course many miles of bushwhacking which means some level of experience in off-trail travel is necessary. The brook crossings were about as high as they could be to cross safely and easily. Just another inch would have buried the lowest stepping stones and made it very risky.
Coming back, in an attempt to avoid some tight evergreens we turned off the trail early, but due to mistaken geographic identity did so almost a mile early. This led to some unnecessary but not problematic extra whacking, following a route that was definitely not your usual "Black Pond bushwhack" but instead our own completely original variation. We encountered several old skidder roads along the way, which was very cool. You can see our route here as the more westerly track:
Other thoughts I can add? The rain sucked. Indeed, every time I brushed one of the many young firs hanging bowed into the trail, I got re-soaked. I never needed snowshoes, the recent rain and cold overnight temps firmed the monorail up nicely, but there were still spots where the snow was drifted loosely or undermined where postholing was inevitable, and I left my share of knee blood in that snow. I have no regrets, though, as there were really very few spots where snowshoes would have made a difference.
Oh, and having your hood pulled down almost over your eyes to keep dry in the rain is a fine idea until failure to look up causes you to walk into a head-height blowdown and nearly knock yourself unconscious.
This was my third time on Owl's Head and definitely the most challenging, due to the conditions and the number of injuries I incurred. Hiking in Spring is difficult, but certainly rewarding to look back on!
My photo album, with the full topo map and a Google Earth image of our track, is located
here.
Thanks, u_d and db, for a great hike!