Life had other plans though, and between BOTH Eric and I needing time off to cope with injuries, and some weather that was just too hot for hiking this Summer (and things like work getting in the way) we have been left this Fall with JUST Owls Head and the Bonds.
Yeah. Just a couple little walks.....
Things finally lined up for us to tackle Owls Head on Saturday, October 8th. Yep, a Saturday in peak foliage, on a holiday weekend, when there are several major tourist attractions happening (Fryeburg Fair, and Loon Resort was hosting what appeared to be a major Octoberfest.) All of this being taken into account, we decided to seize the day and make the best of it. Fall weather had been rolling in hot (cold), the water levels seemed to be nice and low, and it was a solid day to be on the trails before ice and snow become a concern.
We don't haul ass to get on the hill anymore, and we arrived at the overflowing Lincoln Woods lot around 8AM.
We learned a lot from our last Owls head excursion- which was in the summer of 2020. During that trip I had a number of concerns, mainly having to do with hearing tales of terrifying fast flowing river crossings, hard to follow bushwhacks, the steep and sketchy slide, and the overall length of the hike. I would say, that for round one of the 48, there was no mountain that gave me more worry than Owls Head.
I'm not going to say that they were for nothing. Armed with ZERO confidence, we quickly abandoned the Black Point bushwhack when it became hard to follow. Then, taking the long way around, we certainly discovered that the numerous river crossings were time consuming, even of a day when it was warm and the water was not too high. That day we were out for a staggering 10 hours, logging over 20 miles due to our backtracking from the failed bushwhack attempt, and then taking the long route.
New year, new us, new plan.
I didn't even track the water levels, as it has been a pretty dry 10 days. We went in with complete confidence that we could follow the bushwhack and make it a 16 mile day. And armed with this positive mindset, off we went.
Really, the hike went off without a hitch.
We blazed along the Lincoln woods trail, cruised up Black pond and found (and followed!) the bushwhack easily. To be honest, it is a more pleasant route than many of the maintained trails we use, and Gaia locks right on to the track. Very safe and very enjoyable. And Black Pond is just lovely.
Clearly, we bypassed several river crossings, including the largest, but as expected the water levels were very reasonable- actually, on the low side.
The trek up Lincoln Brook trail is partially a wet slog, but we still made short work of it. The final river crossings were simple rock hops, and we were at the base of Owls Head trail before we knew it.
Of course, that final mile gains over 1500 feet of elevation so it is no joke. However, this particular slide is not all that bad. Some crappy scree and loose rocks give way to a bit of easy scrambling, and then just more steep climbing. It is a cardio nightmare, but not (for me) terrifying.
There are also impressive views of Franconia Ridge which is fun to see from this perspective. Literally in the MIDDLE of the Pemi Wilderness looking up at their massive bulk is pretty cool.
As it turned out, the only hiker traffic we saw all day was in the slide zone, and there were enough hikers to form a few bottlenecks. This may be hard to imagine, in a place this remote, but we clearly were not the only ones taking advantage of a pleasant and dry autumn day.
The final annoying "serpentine though the woods to the summit" was a quiet stretch, and chilly, with signs of frost and the temps dipping to freezing. Ellie and I put on our jackets!
The summit of Owls Head is a low value one. High value hike, low payback summit.
It was too cold to hang about and we took off after a 7 minute break.
We encountered some traffic from people escaping the bottlenecked slide, and then scooted down the Brutus Bushwhack and quieter traffic conditions. Brutus was in above average condition, and even though it's a steep steep ballbuster of a descent, it beats going down the slide.
We had a pleasant, quiet and enjoyable walk back and admired the lovely fall conditions.
Once back to Lincoln Woods, the quiet ended and it was all out tourist pandemonium.
We escaped quickly to our car, clocking in at just under 7 hours, and just over 16 miles. Tired, but happy.
It then took us 4 hours to make the normally 1:20 drive home, due to aforementioned tourists and fall time events. Luckily, it was a nice day for a drive.
Weirdly, Owls Head is a favorite of mine. I love a nice long walk in the woods, punctuated by a brutal uphill mile!
This brought us to #45, and ticked off Owls Head for Fall, and for October.
ONE MORE HIKE TO GO.
Stats:
Miles: 16.2
Elevation: 3300
Time: 6:50:19
Fun:
Sara: 9.5
Eric: 7.5
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