Owl's Head is a 4025 foot mountain, part of the Pemigewasset Wilderness and is very remote, along with Mount hancock and Mount Carrigan. The trail to the summit is not marked due to it being in a protected wilderness area. The trail itself is well traveled and therefore doesnt need blazes etc. however, I would certainly travel with a compass and GPS on this trip. There are some stream crossings where the trail is hard to pick up on the other side. The summit offers no views, however there are great views of Mt. Lincoln and Lafayette to the west.
We started our hike around 2PM at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center. It was overcast with passing showers and as we hit the Lincoln Woods Trail, the rain really started soming down. We waterproofed our equipment, inside our packs and out but it all got wet one way or the other. We were on the Lincoln Woods Trail for about 2.6 miles where it meets Franconia Brook Trail. The trail is pretty flat up to this point, its an old logging trail but it was very wet with the rain. Franconia Brook Trail runs for about 1.7 miles to Lincoln Brook Trail on the left. This trail runs for about 3.4 miles to Owls Head Path.
It was our plan do hammock camp once it got dark near the junction of Franconia Brook and Lincoln Brook Trails which we did, it stopped raining about the same time that we decided to set up camp.
Our home for the night...Savannah packed Giraffe Footsy Pajamas..
We ate some Top Ramin and called it a night, we slept pretty good considering there was some intermittant rain, when the sun came up we packed our things and dumped our heavy wet packs in the woods to be retrieved later. We carried one small pack with water and some snacks. Again, the trail to Owls Head Path was pretty flat. We met with some other hikers and decided to hike together and got lost...we bushwacked for about an hour and came back to the spot that we began...frustrated. We got our bearings and headed north on Lincoln Brook Trail to Owls Head Path. Owls Head Path is very steep, with loose rocks that make it difficult to get some good footing. You also have to be careful not to kick up any rocks that will hurdle down toward any hikers below you. Once you reach the summit, there are no views. There is a small cairn marking the summit, it was raining a bit, the bugs were waking up so we took our photo and headed back down.
Our really bad summit pic...
The hike out was long and miserable, it seemed to go on forever, our packs were super heavy because everything was wet, but we did it. Peyton said as we were leaving that people should hike Owls Head last, because theres a good chance that after hiking it they will nver want to hike again...
