HikerAmiga
New member
I hiked East Osceola (elev. 4156') with Madriver on Saturday, August 18th via the Greeley Ponds Trail and the Osceola Trail starting off the Kanc (Rte 112) at the Greeley Ponds Trailhead.
Met Madriver here and we started our hike at about 8:30am. Sue, his wife, would have joined us but was not feeling well that morning. So off we went along the flat and level Greeley Ponds Trail, slightly moist in places and slightly muddy in others. Crossings were fine. The temps were comfortably coolish but the skies looked a bit threatening with clouds. At 1.3 miles, we reached the intersection of the Osceola Trail which diverts off to the right and we followed it. Pretty moderate grade for a little bit and then it increasingly becomes rockier and much steeper with some PUD's but interesting woods. I loved the variety in terrain here! Started to sprinkle and then it rained so we donned our rain gear which included a plastic kilt for Madriver!!
He wore it proudly while I eagerly shot a few pictures of him with his skirt—ahh hum, I mean, his kilt. This trail gets very steep near the end and before the summit and the slickness of the rocks on the very steep slope was a bit unnerving in places. A few scrambles here and there... oh, how I wish I'd been graced with longer legs! Near the summit , the wind begun to howl and blow with good gusts and I wondered how my Pemi looping friends were fairing on their mega-hike. Surprisingly, nearly every person or groups we met had a dog or two with them. This was a constant theme. Another constant theme was that at least 3 persons that we spoke to on separate occasions all mentioned that they had planned to hike Owl's Head that day and had changed their minds which was a HUGE coincidence as I too had planned to hike Owl's Head with BigEarl but had too changed my mind. Coincidentally, this was my first time hiking with Madriver and hopefully not my last. We clicked very nicely I thought and at times he had me in "stitches" with his risqué and over-the-top humor and constant chatter coupled with the fact that it was a very interesting hike especially towards the end, well, I was having a grand time!
At the summit (viewless) and in the trees, we sat around near the cairn and ate some snacks and chatted with a group of three hikers who again, were hiking with dogs (see my new avatar). Good times were had on this hike and on the descent which was fairly uneventful, the clouds started to lift so much so that Madriver led me to a small lookout area and we took in some views, though rather still somewhat dark and overcast ones. (See pics).
Again our descent was uneventful except for a very engaging conversation that we shared about many things and particularly about working in academia which we both have in common.
Thanks Madriver for your wonderful company during this hike! Thanks too for inviting me to visit at your place afterwards and meet Sue including getting a nice free shower and hot cup of coffee before heading off again to the my awaiting fellow campers—the (Giggy) Pemi loopers.
Total mileage was 5.6 miles roundtrip…short but sweet hike.
Picture album can be found here: http://hikeramiga.phanfare.com/album/388329#imageID=24542755
Met Madriver here and we started our hike at about 8:30am. Sue, his wife, would have joined us but was not feeling well that morning. So off we went along the flat and level Greeley Ponds Trail, slightly moist in places and slightly muddy in others. Crossings were fine. The temps were comfortably coolish but the skies looked a bit threatening with clouds. At 1.3 miles, we reached the intersection of the Osceola Trail which diverts off to the right and we followed it. Pretty moderate grade for a little bit and then it increasingly becomes rockier and much steeper with some PUD's but interesting woods. I loved the variety in terrain here! Started to sprinkle and then it rained so we donned our rain gear which included a plastic kilt for Madriver!!
He wore it proudly while I eagerly shot a few pictures of him with his skirt—ahh hum, I mean, his kilt. This trail gets very steep near the end and before the summit and the slickness of the rocks on the very steep slope was a bit unnerving in places. A few scrambles here and there... oh, how I wish I'd been graced with longer legs! Near the summit , the wind begun to howl and blow with good gusts and I wondered how my Pemi looping friends were fairing on their mega-hike. Surprisingly, nearly every person or groups we met had a dog or two with them. This was a constant theme. Another constant theme was that at least 3 persons that we spoke to on separate occasions all mentioned that they had planned to hike Owl's Head that day and had changed their minds which was a HUGE coincidence as I too had planned to hike Owl's Head with BigEarl but had too changed my mind. Coincidentally, this was my first time hiking with Madriver and hopefully not my last. We clicked very nicely I thought and at times he had me in "stitches" with his risqué and over-the-top humor and constant chatter coupled with the fact that it was a very interesting hike especially towards the end, well, I was having a grand time!At the summit (viewless) and in the trees, we sat around near the cairn and ate some snacks and chatted with a group of three hikers who again, were hiking with dogs (see my new avatar). Good times were had on this hike and on the descent which was fairly uneventful, the clouds started to lift so much so that Madriver led me to a small lookout area and we took in some views, though rather still somewhat dark and overcast ones. (See pics).
Again our descent was uneventful except for a very engaging conversation that we shared about many things and particularly about working in academia which we both have in common.
Thanks Madriver for your wonderful company during this hike! Thanks too for inviting me to visit at your place afterwards and meet Sue including getting a nice free shower and hot cup of coffee before heading off again to the my awaiting fellow campers—the (Giggy) Pemi loopers.
Total mileage was 5.6 miles roundtrip…short but sweet hike.
Picture album can be found here: http://hikeramiga.phanfare.com/album/388329#imageID=24542755
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