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Owl's Head 2/3

MtnMagic

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2002
Messages
892
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Location
Lancaster, NH
Date Hiked:
February 3, 2007

Trails Hiked:
Lincoln Woods, Black Pond, bushwhack to, Lincoln Brook

Total Distance:
Approximately 15 miles.

Difficulty:
Moderate to strenuous depending on what one is accustomed to.

Conditions:
In the single numbers, w/winds up to 25 mph.

Special Required Equipment:
Full winter gear, crampons, lots of food and water.

Trip Report:
After a night of snow there was about 10" that had fallen at my 1500' elevation by morning. The backpack and Ghostdog were in the car and I began to proceed forward on my 250' driveway. About half way, snow had piled high on the front bumper preventing me from continuing forward. Run to get the shovel. Start shoveling. I've a hike to go on. Shoo, made it out to the well plowed & sanded mountain road. Heavy salt on the secondary road & the interstate between the plowing left several inches of slush to hydroplane during the ride. A white knuckle ride from squeezing the steering wheel in fear! After going through Franconia Notch, there was noticeably less snow depth and the highway was almost dry. Two separate worlds, I thought.

Dougeh was getting prepared when I arrived at 7 AM. Through emails we scheduled the hike one half hour earlier. Mad Townie, a moderator from Cape Elizabeth, Maine arrived. Then rocksnrolls, a handicapped and elderly van driver from Belcherton. We geared up and hit the trail at 7:30. About a mile into the hike EarlyBird, a teacher from Nashua, caught up to us wearing snowshoes. We were amazed at her speed, we moving along at a very quick pace. Another hiker to share the fun with!

We walked to Black Pond took pix of the pond, the Bonds and Owl's Head. I asked Doug to take out his compass and guide us thru the open hardwood forest during the next hour's bushwhack. His first using a compass bearing in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Just over an hour later we merged with the Lincoln Brook and Trail and continued on.

I was puzzled why I had trouble keeping up with the group. As though I had no energy. Throughout the past several hours, my planta fasciitis, a nerve or tendon foot condition had been causing me extreme sharp pain. It is like stepping on a lit cigarette or stepping on a nail for many minutes at a time. Then it returns often. I'm in pain, slowing down the group being fatigued, and Ghostdog is hopping on one back foot, in the middle of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. We were just 100's of feet from the slide, having made the final brook crossing. It was 1:30. Only one correct choice for me.

Shaking each one's hand, I asked Doug to show the group to new summit and sign. He had joined another group of us to the new summit in early September. As I turned to walk back, Doug stated he would walk out with me and was adamant each time I repeated my request. We wished the group success, happy trails, and started the long slog through the snow back to our vehicles. On the way back, I suddenly acquired a sharp headache, then realized immediately what happened. I was severely dehydrated! That was why I couldn't keep up with our group. Why I felt fatigued. I brought 4 liters of water and only drank 1 liter on the. Time to drink water every 10 minutes. The headache soon left and I felt stronger now.

In fact I felt reinvigorated fully, even considered returning and bag the summit. No, it was too late. Get back safe. The mountain will be there. I choose to return via the bushwhack route, its little hills, plenty of limb and trees to climb over instead of following the easy trail. Now that I was hydrated and had my strength back, I wanted a workout! We arrived at our vehicles at 6:30. That's 11 solid hours of hiking. Geesh.

We went to the Woodstock Station for a much needed hearty meal and some beer to wait for the others, who said they would meet us there. Doug left at 8:30 and I at 9. Exhausion was setting in. Doug later wrote to say he received an email from the others who did summit and made it out safely. They had returned to their vehicles at 9:30 PM. 15 hours of solid hiking. Egads, some hikers really do take hiking most seriously!
 

MarcHowes

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Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
208
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Location
Nashua NH
Website
www.hoosactunnel.net
What did the others think of that god-awful slide in the winter? that slide is bad enough in the fall, i'd hate to think of what its likes with snow and ice! Glad you made it out okay MM Owl's head is the peakbagger's enemy for a good reason :)
 

walkerd2

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Jan 15, 2007
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SE Mass
15 hours! Wow

I'm heading out there in a couple of weeks hopefully, it sounds like a blast. I love heading off deep into the Pemi.
 

MtnMagic

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Oct 7, 2002
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892
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Location
Lancaster, NH
The slide wasn't too difficult w/the snow covering the ice. 10 pointers rule!. One can always climb parallel to the slide in the woods. Both the trail and the Black Pond bushwhack are now well broken out. The 'whack does save distance, there are hills, trees and limbs to go over and around. Now that the trails are well broken out, you should complete the hike in the 11-12 hour range. Try to go before snow covers our work. I always thought it was the peakbagger's friend! The new summit is 1/4 north of the old one. About 12 minutes and 640 steps. Look up often to see the new sign. It's about 8' high on an 11" fir, not facing the trail. You catch a just an inch or two of it. When you pass it, then turn around, voila!

Happy Trails!
:)
 

MichaelJ

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Sep 16, 2002
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I just gotta say - I've done Owl's Head twice, and I really enjoyed it both times, once as an overnight backpack, once as a day trip. I'm looking forward to going back again with una_dogger!

Sure, it's long mileage, but it's a beautiful walk along the brook, and I actually find slides like that (such as Tri south slide) to be fun to climb and a LOT of fun to descend.
 

MarcHowes

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Aug 17, 2006
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Nashua NH
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When I climbed OH It was day 2 of my Pemi loop. so I approached from the north. I bushwhacked off of the trail North west of the peak (the name eludes me right now, but tis the one leading from 13 falls) That trail was a muddy hell hole and it didn't look like it gets much foot traffic (gee I wonder why?).

I opted to Bushwhack up the hill at an angle so I got a nice easy grade and intersect with the HP at around 3000' I ended up getting greedy and shot up at a sharper angle and intersected at nearly 3800' This choice turned out to be my undoing as around 3700 feet I encountered the thickest spruce I have ever seen (even thicker than the spruce south of fulling mill in Maine, and that my friends is THICK) I slowly made my way through the nightmare spruce with a full pack mind you and emerged on the well beaten herd path. I ditched my pack and went up to the summit! On my way down I realized the biggest flaw in my little "time saving" bushwhacking scheme... That was that I couldn't ditch my heavy pack at the trailhead and that I would be carrying it down with my on the slide.. now that was annoying!

Anyways, I always like ascending slides rather than descending :) esp with a backpack with tents and whatnot hanging on the back :)

Probably my favorite story from that slide experience was on my way down I stuck my GPS in my pocket. some PICK POCKET SPRUCE grabbed it by the neck string and snatched it. Good thing I felt the GPS exiting my pocket otherwise I would have never found the damned thing! sneaky spruce!
 

walkerd2

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Jan 15, 2007
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SE Mass
I'm really looking forward to heading up there.

I've heard there are some interesting views of the Lincoln slide and what not.

:-D Nothing beats bushwhack hikes deep in the Pemi. :-D
My first real bushwhack was up to Red Rock pond for 2 nights of camping. My poor friend who came with me had no idea what to expect. My favorite line during the trip was, " Wait, we have to walk through that? You're kidding, right?"

The Pemi is definitely my favorite part of the Whites, and there is just so much to explore, but way too little time.
 

Mike P.

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Jul 1, 2001
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I'm thinking two maybe three more times, tops for Owl's Head, I'd rather do Bondcliff if I want an 18 mile day in the Pemi. I've done it solo in Spring & in the Summer too. Just winter & fall left & maybe, just maybe with my kids one day. If I can knock that off in the fall one year, then just twice.
 

MtnMagic

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Oct 7, 2002
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892
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Location
Lancaster, NH
I usually go to OH twice a year. Last I found myself going, not just because I like it but to show others the new summit sign and location. Yes, the Bonds are a pretty traverse. The pick pocket spruce story cracked me up. lol!
 
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