June 27, 2009
Today Madison and I are climbing Owls Head. In the interest of redlining the Whites, we will continue the loop around the mountain, after bagging the summit. We left Lincoln Woods at 8:30.
Crossing the suspension bridge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Madison loves the water. She doesn't like to play in it, but rather she likes to lay in it.
The first stream we came to she immediately laid down in the water.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Pemigewasset River
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I made it down to the Franconia Brook Bridge in about 45 minutes.
Madison trots across
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Into the Pemi
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I've been to Owls Head five times and have always taken the Black Pond Bushwhack.
I'm sticking to the trails today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next 1.7 miles was easy, but I felt I was in a movie, "Attack of the Killer Mosquitos".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few minutes later I had to cross Franconia Brook. The mosquitos would not let up even as I crossed the river. Their attack was relentless. Between swatting mosquitos and trying to balance on the rocks I was only successful in keeping one foot dry. Shortly after, I had to cross Lincoln Brook. I couldn't find a clear path of stones to step on and figured I wouldn't be able to keep my other foot dry, so I just walked into the water and waded across. I immediately recognized the area on the other side. It was where the Black Pond Bushwhack comes out (or at least the goal). So I was again on familiar ground. By the time I was 3 hours into my hike, I was at the base of Owls Head. Now for the steep, steep climb up the slide on loose gravel.
Looking up to Mounts Lincoln and Lafayette.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Seeing that this was probably my only view of the day, I decided to take my 1st break of the day. I had climbed high enough to escape the mosquitos, but now I had a new enemy. Black Flies. I'm not sure which was worse.
Madison enjoys the view
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few minutes before the "old" summit, I ditched my pack and poles to enjoy a little freedom hiking. Once on the old summit, I noticed the mushroom (or fungi) left behind by Mountain Drew and MEB with there names scratched on it. I had climbed Owls Head back in April just a couple days after them and had noticed it then.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was a gentleman on the old summit.
"Have you been to the true summit already," I asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"Is this a new peak for you?"
"Yes, #48."
"Wow! Congratulations on finishing!" I said.
"Except for Owls Head, I had done them all several times. I'm the caretaker at 13 Falls Tentsite. I figured I might as well come up today and finish the 48."
I congratulated him again before heading over to the true summit.
There were quite a few people there when I got there.
I began to talk to a couple of them.
"I'm Eric," I said.
"We are Bob and Geri," the man replied.
As soon as they said their names, I knew who they were.
"I've been to your website," I said.
I've used their website on several occasions. To view their site click here.
Bob took a picture of Madison and me on the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This was my 6th time on Owls Head, but it was my first time making the hike solo. Some people may say because I had my dog along it was not a solo hike, but I beg to differ. Madison is great company but contrary to what some may say, dogs aren't people too. This was White Mountain 4000 footer #32 for Madison. It was also a bit of a milestone for me. It was my 250th Grid Peak.
I headed back to my pack and headed down the slide. Now for some new terrain again. I hadn't studied my map carefully enough in preparation for this hike. I thought it would be a long but flat walk around the mountain. I was surprised to find that I had about 800 feet of elevation gain over the next two miles. No big deal, I just wasn't expecting it. Let me tell you, this wasn't the most user friendly trail. There were lots of rocks and roots and mud, mud, and more mud. The trail was also overgrown so after walking through all the wet branches I was soaked.
I knew I was nearing 13 Falls Tentsite when I started to follow some cascades. Given the name of the tentsite, I figured there must be at least 13 small waterfalls or cascades in the area. I then came out onto a large open rocky area. The sun actually came out for a few minutes, so I decided to take my 2nd and final break of the day. What a nice spot!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Next I checked out the tentsite.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
If you spend the night, make sure to put your food in the bear boxes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The caretakers tent
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was time to turn south and head back to Lincoln Woods. As I began heading down Franconia Brook Trail I came across another waterfall. For a clip click here
All right. I can cruise on this!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I went by a couple stagnate "ponds" and felt like I was in the movie sequel
"Attack of the Killer Mosquitos 2". I reached the sign I had passed earlier for the Lincoln Brook Trail so completing the loop, but still had almost 5 miles to "get out". I had realized earlier in the day that I had miscalculated the total mileage for this hike. I'm not sure how, but I originally came up with 25.8 miles, but it was more like 22.2 miles. With this in mind I had time to spare and decided to check out Franconia Falls. I've been by here about 10 times but never took the short .4 mile trail to the falls. I'm usually here with a group getting ready for a long trip to the Bonds, so this little side trip was never on the agenda.
Here goes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
W.T.E - Way To Easy!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cool, smooth rocks
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Madison at the falls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For about a tenth of mile there is a long series of cascades with little renegade paths to check out the falls. We did so in several places. The trail is marked at the end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It's nice that the end is marked, because it looks like there is a fairly discernable herd path developing. This is known as "The Fishermen's Bushwhack" and is another approach to Owls Head. There is a really nice swimming hole here as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I decided to take my shirt off and rinse it off in the cool water and remove some of the grime from the day. I heard a splash and looked up. Madison was gone! I then saw her head as she went for a short ride down the rapids. It only carried her about 20-30 feet, but it gave me a quick scare. She got out, shook, and trotted back to me like nothing was wrong. Crazy girl!
We headed back to the Lincoln Woods trail and headed back to the truck finishing about 6:45.
Here's the track from today. Trails I've done before are in red. The new trails that I did today are in yellow.
| 
