| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Owl's Head, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods Trail, Black Pond Trail, bushwhack, Lincoln Brook Trail, bushwhack, Owl's Head Path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 10, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room in the large parking lot on arrival and departure. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Wet boots crossings. Rocks had slush, snow or crunchy snow caps; there was some ice "bridge" that could support a dog or snowshoes, but not a human in boots today. Maybe tomorrow after a cold night. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Lincoln Woods had a few inches of new snow in the morning, two barebooted in and two used spikes. On hike out it had been skied and walked on, so barebooting was fast. The other trails had 4-7" of new snow roughly, but all along Lincoln Brook there were patches of no or little snow and running water. These have been somewhat packed down by 2 booters and 2 snowshoers. The snow is dry and loose, wonderful for snowshoes when it isn't replaced by running/seeping water. R&A said the slide was snow over rock, and so tough on their (full) crampons; they were happy no to descend it. More on whacks below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
A tough challenge met by the dog. Despite a lot of paw/leg treatment, the many sources of water on the trail and the crossings combined with some fairly deep snow, meant wet legs, and they snowballed and iced up as a result as did his snout. Prolonged stops were avoided to keep him warm. It was a long day with some tough whacking too, and some trail indecision on our part. He not only handled all that, kept his eye on everyone, and wanted us to move along on the hike out. He is one tough and experienced dog. This is not a great dog hike today; it should be better tomorrow especially if one stays on the paths or tracked whacks. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Saw a leash with purple banner and some leather case at the kiosk just below the parking lot on our return. We left it there; it may have been placed there by other finders. |
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 | Comments: |
We were two separate groups on the hike up, we shared the descent down to Lincoln Woods. Since we were the only ones on Owls Head today, I'll make a report thinking there are at least several wondering if it was broken out for tomorrow. The good news is the trails and whacks are broken; the bad news is there are two Black Pond whacks, neither of which is good, and the Brutus whack is all broken, but there are several branches in one place to be avoided, including the "Brutal" whack that went all the way to Owls Head Path, which might create a bit of confusion for those on that Path. There is also a possibility that the cairn that was found was only the old peak's; R&A had never been on the summit, and I was disoriented by how the Brutal whack hit the trail.
One Black Pond whack goes high to avoid wet spots that could have iced up the dog's paws early. It worked, probably going higher than most people would prefer, but it did have a short but steep whack to get to the trail. It was no problem hiking in, but being tired M&J didn't want to hike back up to go down. The other BP whack by R&A is low, flat and surprisingly dry, but it curves around and hits and crosses Lincoln Brook well below the lower crossing of it by the Lincoln Brook trail, before curving up to Lincoln Brook trail for a return crossing. On the hike out we were all doing the Fisherman whack but when we came across this BP whack in the dark, we decided it was safe and better than the mixed herd path of Fisherman's, so it is well packed. The Fisherman's section isn't bad for a whack in winter.
The Brutus whack is now packed down by all of us on the descent, but snowshoes led the descent so it likely is not well packed, and it was very slippery on the steep sections especially on the descent. M&J ascended on this but started the contour a bit too low and ran into nasty ledges. A short attempt up and a much longer attempt to go low to get around them failed but left their tracks. We decided to just head uphill to see what happened, and our "Brutal whack" was rather slow and got us a bit wet. I think the dog handled it better than M&J. It came out on the Path on the ridge, but we weren't sure where so we packed the Path down in both directions. It should be much less packed than the main path, but watch out for it and don't go down it by mistake.
There was enough snow that spikes and crampons weren't really helpful today. Snowshoes were the ticket off Lincoln Woods in the new snow, but bareboot worked with more effort. Tomorrow there may be places where the snow is packed down enough for spikes to get a bite, but expect wet boots and some rockwork on the spikes.
It was a long day due to the whacks, there were no views (R&A may have had some on the slide, but it was snowing and only briefly sunny today), and there were the always lovely hike out Lincoln Woods after a long day in the cold. We hiked out in headlamps which actually improved that section. It was nice to run into R&A and do some hiking with them. Good ol' Owlie, it is unique and it puts some spice in the 4K hikes that make then often memorable. |
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 | Name: |
Four Fools and a Dog |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-12-10 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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