One might think that hiring a guide for the lowly 4025′ Owls Head — a NH 4000-footer — isn’t necessary. Well, maybe it’s not. Hopefully it’s not. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea. If for nothing else, safety and reassurance aside, sometimes having another soul to share with on a long hike is just fun. In this case, our guest’s usual partner, her husband, wanted a day off. Our guest figured hiring a guide to go with her made sense. Owls Head, after all, is located deep in the heart of the Pemigewasset Wilderness so by New Hampshire standards it’s out there a ways. And it’s not without risks. If using the trail system, hikers will face three significant and potentially dangerous river crossings where certain river crossing methods may be needed. The first two are often avoided by taking the “Black Pond Bushwhack” but this requires some navigational skills, particularly for the return, at least in summer. Even when doing it this way, the final crossing of Lincoln Brook still occurs some eight miles from help and can be pretty intimidating itself. If hiking Owls Head in winter, further concerns enter the picture to include avalanche danger marking the need for yet another bushwhack. For such a lowly peak, it stands to reason we have guided it multiple times. In hindsight, according to our guest, it was quite appreciated when all was said and done. It was her 38th 4000-footer and she was happy to have us help. On point for this hike was Redline Guide Katie Vaughan.
A whole lotta this happened to set things in motion.
The cairn marks the unofficial start of an unofficial trail.
Turn around and check out the view.
The summit. Our guest wasn’t blown away so they didn’t linger.
They hiked all day at a fast 3mph pace… except here on the Owl’s Head Slide.
The East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. Beautiful.
When it’s over.
Great work, Katie. And congratulations to our whole team for getting it done. Thanks for choosing Redline Guiding.