bryan
New member
date: 1/15/12
trails: greeley ponds trail, mt. osceola trail, tripoli road, mt. tecumseh trail
conditions: left a car at the waterville ski area and headed to greeley ponds trail on the kanc. well packed track along greeley ponds trail. continued nicely up to east peak with some exposed ice along the way. some of the nicest conditions i've seen on that piece of trail. snowshoe track continued along the ridge and the chimney bypass was in good shape. we were able to negotiate it with snowshoes and little difficulty. the trail from osceola down towards tripoli road was unbroken with up to a foot of new snow, but to our surprise a short ways down we ran into a few people heading up (all more surprisingly without snowshoes) so the trail has seen a fair bit of travel today. a little bony down low, but generally nice snowshoe conditions. tripoli road was snowmobile packed. mt. tecumseh trail from tripoli road had not been travelled anytime recently and we broke through a few inches with a bit of a crust down low, 6-8 inches higher up and a foot plus with deeper drifts from west peak to osceola. from tecumseh to the ski area the trail is a smooth packed snowshoe track. all water crossings were either frozen or a simple rock hop. there was a new (to me anyway) sign mounted under the mount tecumseh trail sign at the ski area end stating that access to the ski trails was only allowed if you purchased a pass and that after the ski area closed the trails were closed to all use. sounds familiar.....
equipment: wore snowshoes the whole day and they are probably the best choice right now and pretty necessary if heading to the less travelled sections of mt. osceola and mt. tecumseh trails. carried crampons (as i always would for a winter ascent of the osceolas) and microspikes, but they just came for the ride today.
comments: a beautiful, but very cold day. sub zero temps at the trailhead on both ends of the hike. lots of new snow in this area made for nice hiking. a real great way to traverse these peaks in winter. thanks cynthia.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: greeley ponds trail, mt. osceola trail, tripoli road, mt. tecumseh trail
conditions: left a car at the waterville ski area and headed to greeley ponds trail on the kanc. well packed track along greeley ponds trail. continued nicely up to east peak with some exposed ice along the way. some of the nicest conditions i've seen on that piece of trail. snowshoe track continued along the ridge and the chimney bypass was in good shape. we were able to negotiate it with snowshoes and little difficulty. the trail from osceola down towards tripoli road was unbroken with up to a foot of new snow, but to our surprise a short ways down we ran into a few people heading up (all more surprisingly without snowshoes) so the trail has seen a fair bit of travel today. a little bony down low, but generally nice snowshoe conditions. tripoli road was snowmobile packed. mt. tecumseh trail from tripoli road had not been travelled anytime recently and we broke through a few inches with a bit of a crust down low, 6-8 inches higher up and a foot plus with deeper drifts from west peak to osceola. from tecumseh to the ski area the trail is a smooth packed snowshoe track. all water crossings were either frozen or a simple rock hop. there was a new (to me anyway) sign mounted under the mount tecumseh trail sign at the ski area end stating that access to the ski trails was only allowed if you purchased a pass and that after the ski area closed the trails were closed to all use. sounds familiar.....
equipment: wore snowshoes the whole day and they are probably the best choice right now and pretty necessary if heading to the less travelled sections of mt. osceola and mt. tecumseh trails. carried crampons (as i always would for a winter ascent of the osceolas) and microspikes, but they just came for the ride today.
comments: a beautiful, but very cold day. sub zero temps at the trailhead on both ends of the hike. lots of new snow in this area made for nice hiking. a real great way to traverse these peaks in winter. thanks cynthia.
bryan
[email protected]
