The Haunting on Owls Head

Trip Details
Date: August 28^th, 2015
Total Distance: 20.44mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S. This is off as the app crashed while climbing the slide. The gray line on the map indicates where it glitched as the GPS was re-establishing.)
Total Time: 10 hours 59 minutes (this is off by a few minutes due to the short period of time where the app had crashed)
Total Elevation: 3011 ft gained
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Most despise even the idea of Owls Head. Previously I had only summited during the winter but I am intrigued by the various bushwhacks used to summit this mountain and I had never climbed the slide as in the winter you  use the Brutus Bushwhack. Plus all the flat makes the distance tolerable and my knee still was not back to 100%. With a good GPS map of the Black Pond Bushwhack and a general idea of the Fisherman's Bushwhack/Path, Mr. No Pants and I set off on an adventure into the Pemigewasset Wilderness.

The footbridge over the East Branch.

Looking down the Lincoln Woods Trail.

Before we knew it we were at the junction for the Black Pond Trail and making our way towards Black Pond. Upon arriving at Black Pond we ended up disturbing a guy who was off to the side of the pond taking photos. We took a few photos of our own at the trail end and then started on the herd path. The herd path was very easy to follow until it just disappeared. Now through research I knew if we stayed too low we would hit the swampy area so we tried to keep our elevation at 1600 ft or higher. Eventually though we took a wrong turn when trying to follow faint herd paths and ended up coming close to the swamp. After hitting it twice we started heading more inland and increase our elevation. All sense of a herd path was lost at this point and we just continued on through the path of least resistance. Eventually we popped out on the Fisherman's Bushwhack/Path, which is a bit east of where we should have popped out. The Black Pond Bushwhack has a well defined herd path that comes out at the first crossing of the Lincoln Brook, which we saw as we made our way to this intersection of the Lincoln Brook Trail, Black Pond Bushwhack, and Fisherman's Bushwhack/Path. Overall, the Black Pond Bushwhack is easy to follow to start and appears easy to follow at the end. In the middle the trail basically disappears and you have to follow your compass and watch your elevation as you make your way towards the Lincoln Brook Trail.

The Black Pond Trail looks more like a standard hiking trail.

Black Pond with the Bonds rising behind it.

The guy we disturbed is visible just off-center.

Here is the junction of the Lincoln Brook Trail, Black Pond Bushwhack, and Fisherman's Bushwhack/Path. The Black Pond Bushwhack comes out in the center of the photo. We lost the herd path and came out on the Fisherman's Bushwhack/Path which is off camera on the left.

The first crossing of the Lincoln Brook that is at the intersection in the photo above.

We then continued on towards the Owl's Head Path by crossing a brook and the Lincoln Brook. At our first brook crossing was where thought we saw our first haunting as a woman was right behind us at the crossing and then was never seen again (Mr. No Pants said he never saw anyone behind us either)... As you near the Owl's Head Path, the trail has this great white rock path through the woods that leads directly too it. It is almost like its own "Yellow Brick Road" as it appears carefully laid out.

The small brook crossing.

The second crossing of the Lincoln Brook.

The double cairn marking the start of the Owl's Head Path.

Looking up the Owl's Head Path.

At the double cairn start to the Owl's Head Path we ate some snacks and then began the ascent up the slide. The open rock part of the slide provides the only views for the day and besides the loose rock it really is not all that tough. During this time we would get passed by some people who we expected we would meet at the summit (we never saw them again). The woman who also disappeared at the water crossing caught up to us again and would pass us, but we never saw her again after that. Once the trail makes its way back into the woods it reminded me of the Brutus Bushwhack as at times it is steep and narrow. Overtime a legit path has formed but it is just pushing up instead of snaking around to make the elevation easier to gain. Eventually you get to the ridge and then just have to make your way to the old summit.

Looking up the slide.

Mr. No Pants completely owning this slide.

Looking towards the Franconia Ridge.

Mt. Lincoln and the Lincoln Slide

Mt. Lafayette hiding in the clouds.

A bit of scrambling as you make your way up the slide.

Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty

The clouds engulfing the Franconia Ridge.

The Garfield Ridge

At the old summit you have the choice to continue to the new summit or call it good. We continued on to the new summit following a herd path that led us directly too it with no issues. The White Mountain Guide states there is a maze of herd paths, but I did not experience that. It was nice to see that the tree with the "O H TOP" carving is at the new summit because when I hiked this mountain in the winter that was all we were able to find as the cairn was buried. We ate some more lunch and hung out at the summit for a bit. At one point a guy came up to us and said he could not figure out the maze of herd paths leading away from the summit and was going to wait for us so he did not get lost up there. We agreed, but then he just disappeared. Also, a couple of the people who passed us on the climb up to the top were never seen at the summit nor did they pass us on their way down as we were still climbing up or making our way to the summit. The only logical explanation was that they were on the maze of herd paths on the ridge and that is how we never saw them again. Or they were all just ghosts and this mountain is haunted. They could have also continued past the new summit and bushwhacked down another side of the mountain I suppose.

Old Summit

Carved tree at the new summit.

New Summit

Someone was excited to get to the new summit.

Mr. No Pants and I on the new summit.

Finally we started making our way back to the slide. There is in fact a maze of herd paths on the ridge that we found ourselves kind of circling a bit until I just took out the GPS and used that to follow our previous path back to the old summit. The descent and trek back to the first Lincoln Brook crossing on the Lincoln Brook Trail was pretty uneventful.

Here is the white rock path I mentioned earlier. This time we are heading away from the Owl's Head Path.

This blowdown is not going anywhere.

At the first crossing of the Lincoln Brook and the junction with the various bushwhacks we scraped the idea to bushwhack back as it was getting darker and the limited light in the woods would make it harder to find our way. We decided to try our luck with the two hazardous crossings on this hike. Thankfully the water levels of the Lincoln Brook and Franconia Brook were pretty low that we actually were able to rock hop them both no problem. In the future, though, I will never not bushwhack as the Lincoln Brook Trail as it makes its way to the Franconia Brook Trail is infuriating and has some pointless up-and-downs and actually requires you to add some mileage as the trails avoid a section flooded by beavers.

The first Lincoln Brook crossing.

Old railroad junk.

More old railroad junk.

The infamous Franconia Brook crossing.

The footbridge across the Franconia Brook.

With minimal daylight left, Mr. No Pants and myself made our way across the footbridge over the East Branch and back to the trailhead for the Lincoln Woods Trail. I decided I am going to have to come back next year and just mess around trying to better map the bushwhacks of this area and probably not make my way over to Owls Head. Though I am curious where the herd path taking off from the other side of the summit leads to...

My mileage is off due to the app crashing and GPS having to re-establish. On the descent the missing logged track is filled in.