Owl's Head in winter

For Maura's birthday, she and her husband Brian and I (and their adventurous dog Miles) skied in to and hiked up Owl's Head, a remote peak in the Pemigewasset Wilderness of New Hampshire's White Mountains.

It's a long haul to this peak even in warmer seasons, but winter adds its own challenges (like crossing frigid, bridge-less rivers). One of the more significant ones is the climb to the summit itself. In summer most people ascend a landslide scar but with snow there's too much avalanche danger, so instead you go up a nearby route called the Brutus bushwhack, which I can now say is steep enough in places to make you wonder what the heck that guy Brutus was drinking. Also, there was at least an extra foot of snow once you neared the 4,000 foot level. Pretty tired after this all-day trip...

Taking a quick snack break after the Black Pond bushwhack. 

Leaving the wilderness near the end of a long day. 

This was at Franconia Falls and we still had four miles to 

ski out, but the bushwhacks were over and the rest was easy.