Hiked May 5, 2007 by Tim and Valerie
Conditions: Gorgeous day - left the Lincoln Woods parking lot around 9:15am. There were already about 20 cars in the parking lot. We figured we would see tons of people. Hiked up the west bank of the East Branch of the Pemigewassett River for 2.6 miles, then took the side-trail almost another mile to Black Pond. Didn't see another soul the entire way.
At the pond, Tim took a whack at the fish while Valerie found a warm rock in the sun and read. Tim took a picture of the biggest leech that we'd ever seen. We had incredible views of Owl's Head and the Bonds. We're hopeful to find time to climb both of these this summer.
The trail beyond the pond shows what blowdown can do to a trail. Also, you'll see there was still snow in the trail at this point.
We ate lunch and walked out a little after noon. Saw many, many people coming in as we were headed out. Some had fishing poles, like Tim. Others were on overnights. Still others were just out for an afternoon walk.
Spoke to a man who had done the AT in 1999. He was very interesting to talk to, because we both just finished reading Adrianne Hall's account of her trip. We talked about starting dates in GA, food preparation, etc.