We walked the last 600 yards / metres to the base of the Owls Head slide. At that point, we were met with three things: two of them hikers, and one an awful stench. We exchanged pleasantries with the hikers, who were also bound for Owls Head, and we were informed that the stench was very likely coming from the corpse of a moose which had died a little ways up the Owls Head path (apparently this news was all abuzz amongst the backpackers hiking in this area).
So, with our noses girded for the worst, we started up the Owls Head herd path.
Sure enough, a few minutes later and maybe a hundred and fifty feet of vertical feet above, we encountered the first of the maggots, wriggling amongst the rocks on the trail. Just uphill from this was the carcass. It was pretty far gone, suggesting that it had died some days or more ago. It was sprawled right across the trail, the main part of its body bent around a boulder.
With a deep breath and a pinching of the nose, I quickly bushwhacked off the trail and around the carcass. From a vantage point upstream of it, we could see zillions of maggots writhing within its core. Busy little buggers!
Unfortunate moose, wideangle
Franconia Ridge from east
With the 'trail-kill' now behind us, we continued uphill, soon emerging into the open air of the Owls Head slide. We had a clear day this time, and we therefore had a nice unobstructed view of the seldom-seen east side of Franconia ridge.
We scrambled up the steep slide, noting how much drier it was (six weeks ago it was practically a waterfall). Above the slide, the very nice and defined herdpath soon led us to the crest of Owls Head, rejoining with the other two hikers. We then walked north, continuing past the former site of the summit (prior to a few years ago, that is) to the actual summit. I was very surprised to see that the thin, vertical 'Owls Head' summit marker had been ripped from the tree trunk upon which it had been affixed. Sometimes I think the officials who manage the Pemi wilderness take the wilderness designation rules just a little too literally.
We introduced ourselves to our fellow hikers, learning that they were named Gary and Ryan. They were finishing up a multi-day backpack in the Pemi, and Owls Head was their last peak.
Having summitted Owls Head 'properly', we made preparations for heading down. I had been toying with the idea of directly bushwhacking down the east side of Owls Head to the Franconia Brook trail, thereby saving us an additional mile or more of hiking trail. I had heard that the east side route was occasionally used, and that the bushwhacking was not too bad. Despite her misgivings, Jenn agreed to give it a go. Variety is always nice, in any case.
We stayed on the crest of a slight ridge that fell away down the east flank. The going was steep, but the undergrowth was quite reasonable, making for a mostly straightforward and reasonably quick descent. I made an effort to stay on the crest of the very faint ridge, which may have contributed to the relatively open terrain. Only at the very bottom, near the banks of Franconia brook, did things brush up a bit. I aimed for a spot just north of the confluence of Franconia and Hellgate Brooks, and popped out at the river just a few tens of feet upstream of it. See the track map for more details.
The brook was not quite low enough to rock hop, so we took our boots off and waded across. Today, it was only knee deep in one spot, and the current was not that strong. Piece of cake! (I would not have wanted to try this crossing six weeks ago, though!)
After another water / food break, we got going, and in a few minutes climbed up to the Franconia Brook Trail. It was ramrod straight and perfectly level at this point -- a veritable highway compared to what we had just hiked. We turned right and began walking south at a good clip.
