Owl’s Head

Here is how it played out

I got to the Lincoln Woods Parking Lot at 6:40AM (which means I left my house shortly before 5AM). I started hiking at 7:05.

I totally read the first trail sign wrong and went up the wrong trail to start, and didn’t realize until I was about 6/10 of a mile up the trail. So roundtrip, I just added a little more than a mile to my already daunting hike. Oh man, great start. Instead of going on the Lincoln Woods Trail, I was on the East Side Trail, which was on the wrong side of the river.

Once I got back to where I needed to be and got on the Lincoln Woods Trail, I started moving quick. It was super flat and very wide - an old rail bed. I had to make up time, so was moving at a decent pace.

The trails for the first several miles were easy. They were flat and wide. But once I got into the Pemi Wilderness, that changed. Still wasn’t gaining a ton of elevation, but trails were not marked and I had to just seek out where the trail was going. Most parts this was easy. It’s travelled enough where it wasn’t a huge problem to follow it. But there were a couple spots where it was tough, and I went off trail slightly and had to correct. When you’re out in the wilderness by yourself, getting off trail is nothing to mess around with. You have to be hyper aware of your surroundings in order to not get off trail and lost. That can be incredibly dangerous. Even though I went off trail a couple times slightly, I didn’t really have any issue realizing it and getting back on trail.

The water crossings were another major obstacle. There were 3 major crossings I believe. The first one I came across was the most difficult. It probably took me a half hour or close to it to figure out how to get across. There were rocks to step on and cross, but no clear path. This was the first time I saw another person. As I was in the middle of the river standing on a rock looking for the next step, someone else got to the crossing, and also struggled to find a place to cross. We went up shore and down shore looking for a spot. We finally found a spot to cross, but not before my boot went into the water. It didn’t completely submerge, but my sock got a little wet. Nothing too bad where I couldn’t keep going.

Lane was the person I met there, and we ended up hiking for a few miles after that. We crossed the 2 other rivers, which weren’t quite as bad as the first, but still slightly challenging in their own ways. As much as I was looking forward to a solitude hike, it wasn’t bad to hike with someone else for a little bit.

When we got to the point where we were going to head uphill, Lane surged ahead by himself, and I took my time so we were both solo again. This is where it got intense.

Usually, people going to Owl’s Head take the Lincoln Brook Trail to the Owl’s Head Path. This takes you to the slide, which is loose rock that you have to climb. Because of when I went, it was recommended not to go that way due to icy conditions. So I took the Brutus Bushwhack. This was insanely steep and full of snow and ice. It was an incredibly tough hike. The only reason I knew where to go was because of footprints in the snow. Following the bushwhack would have been next to impossible without that.

The peak was uneventful as I had expected. It was hard to even know where the peak was, but I eventually found it. Plenty of people went the wrong way as there were a couple spots where I followed footsteps to nowhere and had to retrace to find a different path.

Coming down that bushwhack was even more intense. Although I had spikes on, it didn’t matter. It was so steep, and because it was more snow and slush, the spikes really didn’t have much to dig into. I slipped and fell multiple times, sliding down several feet on my butt at one point. This was a strain on the legs trying to find footing and get down this steep section.

On the way back, I was leap frogging a couple of people, and eventually decided to just join them and hike down with them. I hiked down with Jason and Carrie for the last 4 or 5 miles. We were told of another bushwhack trail, which helped us avoid the worst of the water crossings. It also saved us about a mile and a half and took us right past Black Pond. In fact the bushwhack is called Black Pond Bushwhack. It was much better saving the distance and avoiding the risky river crossings. Jason and Carrie were great, and told me all about some of the other hikes they have done. Carrie had 1 more to go after this trip, so that was exciting. Meeting a network of people that love this just like I do is amazing. There is no bullshit on the trails. Being disconnected from the rest of the world is something really important to experience, and can put a lot of things into perspective.

Although I hiked for a few miles with various people, I had plenty of time on my own to reflect, think and just take it all in. It was all that I hoped for. I really enjoyed solo hiking. I will always be glad to take different people on the trails, but now I know that I have no problem going solo if needed.

This was a hard hike. It had plenty of challenges. But in the end, I overcame them all and accomplished what I set out to do. My first solo hike was in the books at 5PM when I returned to the parking lot. 10 hours. I was hoping it would take 8, so it definitely took longer than I expected, but I didn’t mind. I was glad for the experience and happy to be back on the tailgate of my truck drinking my celebratory beverage of choice - All Day IPA. I was sore. Everything was sore. And it felt great. All that means is that I need to work more to get myself better prepared for future difficult hikes.

4 down. 44 to go. Let’s go.