Thirteen Falls
Where: 13 Falls
When: November 18/19, 1989
With: Chip
The caterpillar hike. It started as just another autumn hike. Nothing difficult, just a walk into a new area. We planned to follow the Wilderness Trail in past Franconia Brook, and then onto the Franconia Brook trail. At the trailhead, while we packed, I discovered I'd brought along an unexpected companion. A woolly bear caterpillar, which we named Bob. He was in the car and I put him on my pack as we set off.
The day was chilly, but we weren't uncomfortable as we walked. We found the Franconia Brook trail and headed into the woods. The trail followed an old rail bed at first, then went into a marshy area where we stopped for a bit. When we decided to continue, we realized we'd lost the trail. We poked around a bit before finally backtracking and locating the way. The trail had taken a turn we hadn't noticed.
From there on the trail was pretty flat and easy to follow. It was a very pretty hike. The trail slabbed along the side of Mt. Bond, high above the brook below, and there were views of Lafayette, the Garfield ridge, and Owlshead mountain. We stopped at one point to look and it started to snow. The first snow we'd seen that season. Not much, just flurries, but snow nonetheless.
Eventually, the trail brought us into 13 Falls, and it was as pretty as I'd expected. Pools and cascades and nice woods. We went to the campsite there at first and checked out the various platforms. I'm not sure why. We couldn't build a fire, there was no wind protection, and there really weren't any advantages. Still, we dropped our gear, set up the tents, and then went exploring.
We crossed over the brook and hiked a bit up the Lincoln Brook trail, which we planned to take back the next day. A ways up we came upon a small campsite in some trees near the stream, with a fire pit. It seemed a much better place to camp, so we went down to the tents, partially disassembled them, and hauled everything up the trail.
After setting up camp a second time, we settled in for the night. We played cards a bit, made some music, and finally went to sleep. We arose the next morning to find the world, and our campsite, was covered in an inch of snow. How wonderful! I checked on Bob and he was doing just fine. I wrapped him up for warmth.
When: November 18/19, 1989
With: Chip
The caterpillar hike. It started as just another autumn hike. Nothing difficult, just a walk into a new area. We planned to follow the Wilderness Trail in past Franconia Brook, and then onto the Franconia Brook trail. At the trailhead, while we packed, I discovered I'd brought along an unexpected companion. A woolly bear caterpillar, which we named Bob. He was in the car and I put him on my pack as we set off.
The day was chilly, but we weren't uncomfortable as we walked. We found the Franconia Brook trail and headed into the woods. The trail followed an old rail bed at first, then went into a marshy area where we stopped for a bit. When we decided to continue, we realized we'd lost the trail. We poked around a bit before finally backtracking and locating the way. The trail had taken a turn we hadn't noticed.
From there on the trail was pretty flat and easy to follow. It was a very pretty hike. The trail slabbed along the side of Mt. Bond, high above the brook below, and there were views of Lafayette, the Garfield ridge, and Owlshead mountain. We stopped at one point to look and it started to snow. The first snow we'd seen that season. Not much, just flurries, but snow nonetheless.
Eventually, the trail brought us into 13 Falls, and it was as pretty as I'd expected. Pools and cascades and nice woods. We went to the campsite there at first and checked out the various platforms. I'm not sure why. We couldn't build a fire, there was no wind protection, and there really weren't any advantages. Still, we dropped our gear, set up the tents, and then went exploring.
We crossed over the brook and hiked a bit up the Lincoln Brook trail, which we planned to take back the next day. A ways up we came upon a small campsite in some trees near the stream, with a fire pit. It seemed a much better place to camp, so we went down to the tents, partially disassembled them, and hauled everything up the trail.
After setting up camp a second time, we settled in for the night. We played cards a bit, made some music, and finally went to sleep. We arose the next morning to find the world, and our campsite, was covered in an inch of snow. How wonderful! I checked on Bob and he was doing just fine. I wrapped him up for warmth.
[Odd for my reports...there's no mention of what we had for dinner. No mention on the recording either.]
We breakfasted on oatmeal, bagels, hot chocolate, and coffee and soon were on our way. We thought it possible that this might be the first permanent snow of the season, in which case our tracks would remain until spring. After a short climb, the trail turned down as it rounded Owlshead, to join up with Lincoln Brook. We crossed it high up, where it was small, and a few times afterwards before finally settling on the west side, just after the cairn for the Owlshead slide.
Again, not a difficult trail, until we came to the final stream crossing which would lead us back to the main trail. The water was far too high for us to cross, so we decided to bushwhack down the west bank on the brook back to the Wilderness trail. It wasn't a total bushwhack actually. Small marks on the trees indicated this way had been traveled and marked in the past, but the way was not easy to follow. Finally, it did turn into a "real" trail and soon enough we were back to the main trail and then back to the car. One last check on Bob found he'd survived the trip just fine.
Audio recordings from the hike
We breakfasted on oatmeal, bagels, hot chocolate, and coffee and soon were on our way. We thought it possible that this might be the first permanent snow of the season, in which case our tracks would remain until spring. After a short climb, the trail turned down as it rounded Owlshead, to join up with Lincoln Brook. We crossed it high up, where it was small, and a few times afterwards before finally settling on the west side, just after the cairn for the Owlshead slide.
Again, not a difficult trail, until we came to the final stream crossing which would lead us back to the main trail. The water was far too high for us to cross, so we decided to bushwhack down the west bank on the brook back to the Wilderness trail. It wasn't a total bushwhack actually. Small marks on the trees indicated this way had been traveled and marked in the past, but the way was not easy to follow. Finally, it did turn into a "real" trail and soon enough we were back to the main trail and then back to the car. One last check on Bob found he'd survived the trip just fine.
Audio recordings from the hike
