Osseo Trail
Where: Osseo Trail
When: March, 1990
With: Chip
Another night hike, again in the rain. We drove up to the Wilderness trail on Friday night, intending to camp at the Osseo trail. The next day we planned to hike up in around Owlshead and find another spot to stay.
With headlamps and rain gear on, we walked in and found the Osseo trail. We followed it in a bit and found a campsite near the stream. We set up the tents on top of a large groundcloth Chip had brought, which turned out to be a mistake. The ground cloth acted like a big dish, catching all the rain and collecting it in a pool under our tents. When we arose the next morning, most of Chip's gear was soaked. Since the woods were too, there was no chance of a fire to dry things out. We debated several options and decided to try to continue our hike as planned, figuring we might be able to find dry wood later on.
We continued up the Wilderness trail and branched off on a trail on the west side of Franconia Brook. We decided to try to cut off a corner of the hike and left the trail on what appeared to be an abandoned trail. We were able to follow it for a ways, but eventually it petered out, and there we were, in the middle of a cold, wet wood. We wandered around a bit, looking for wood for a fire, but finally decided to throw in the towel.
We started back through the woods, and came upon Black Pond. We hiked around it and found a trail that led us back to the Wilderness trail and back to the car. We drove down to Waterville Valley, looking for a laundromat to dry out Chip's gear, but had no luck. Finally, we drove to restaurant for food and beer and left for home. Our first hike failure.
When: March, 1990
With: Chip
Another night hike, again in the rain. We drove up to the Wilderness trail on Friday night, intending to camp at the Osseo trail. The next day we planned to hike up in around Owlshead and find another spot to stay.
With headlamps and rain gear on, we walked in and found the Osseo trail. We followed it in a bit and found a campsite near the stream. We set up the tents on top of a large groundcloth Chip had brought, which turned out to be a mistake. The ground cloth acted like a big dish, catching all the rain and collecting it in a pool under our tents. When we arose the next morning, most of Chip's gear was soaked. Since the woods were too, there was no chance of a fire to dry things out. We debated several options and decided to try to continue our hike as planned, figuring we might be able to find dry wood later on.
We continued up the Wilderness trail and branched off on a trail on the west side of Franconia Brook. We decided to try to cut off a corner of the hike and left the trail on what appeared to be an abandoned trail. We were able to follow it for a ways, but eventually it petered out, and there we were, in the middle of a cold, wet wood. We wandered around a bit, looking for wood for a fire, but finally decided to throw in the towel.
We started back through the woods, and came upon Black Pond. We hiked around it and found a trail that led us back to the Wilderness trail and back to the car. We drove down to Waterville Valley, looking for a laundromat to dry out Chip's gear, but had no luck. Finally, we drove to restaurant for food and beer and left for home. Our first hike failure.
