Flume via Osceo Trail - 11/19/05

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David Metsky

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Amy (GetawayGirl) and I were looking to get in a semi-wintery hike before winter closes in. I was headed off to a party in VT for Saturday night so we drove up in two cars, arriving at Lincoln Woods within 10 seconds of each other. Our original plan was to drop a car at LW and drive around to Liberty Springs but we decided to cut the hike short and just go up Osceo. I needed a new WMNF parking pass and the person at the ranger station had a VftT sticker on his truck. :) Hi there!

We started out at 8:45 walking up the flat and forgiving Wilderness Trail. There was about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground, and occasional ice along the trail, but nothing too serious. We headed up the Osceo trail and eventually began gaining a little elevation. Amy wasn't feeling all that well, but she kept hiking. A woodpecker kept flitting about the trail, checking out trees on either side. I'm not sure what kind it was, but he/she didn't seem too concerned by our presence.

We got to the Downlook by the flights of stairs and Amy decided she'd had enough. She had gotten her view, she was done. She put on her Stabilicers and started down; I continued up to the summit. It took about 45 more minutes and I arrived at the top at around 12:45. There was one other person up top (Larry) and sunshine all around. There had been light snow falling down low, I was surprised to find such a nice day up top. I was running on fumes, so I quickly ate and drank, took some photos, then got ready to head down.

At the Flume Slide junction I met up with some folks who'd just dropped off the summit as I arrived, plus two misguided fellows who'd just climbed up the Slide trail. They were not quite prepared for the trip and thankfully to the advice to go over Liberty and down the Liberty Springs trail. I took off hoping to catch Amy. Larry quickly caught up with me and we hiked down most of the way together, talking about folks we knew in common and the situation in the world.

I got down at 3:30 but Amy wasn't feeling well so she had already taken off. I changed in the wondfully wood fired outhouses and then headed to Mountain Wanderer to visit with Steve Smith. We chatted for a bit and then I headed to VT, spotting a moose as I passed over Moosilauke on 118. All in all, a good day except for Amy not feeling well.

Pictures are here
 
I second Ivy's comment on pictures, real nice. Didn't look real cold out there and I'm sure the sun helped warm things up. I see the blackened out sign still hasn't been replaced. I passed by it three times myself this summer. How slippery were the stairs coming down? Like grease sometimes I'm sure, but slow and steady works well.
 
The temps weren't that bad, probably 20 at the start, somewhere around 30 or so up top. There wasn't much wind up top either, which was nice. I could have hung around longer up top but I needed to get moving.

There were only a few blowdowns, none that couldn't be navigated with only a little extra effort. One spot, above the last of the stairs (they're really not ladders) was icy enough that something like Stabilicers would have helped, but it was such a short distance that it wasn't worth it to put them on.

I added a short video of the woodpecker to the directory.

-dave-
 
poison ivy said:
Great pictures, Dave! I hope Amy is feeling better.

- Ivy

Thanks, Ivy, I felt much better by Sunday and should be able to gorge myself by Thursday!

Dave - amazing pictures, as usual (although I could live without the super close-up of me). Wish I could have made it all the way up with you to see the rest of those views in person.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)
 
Nice!

You acutally got pictures of that woodpecker! Way to go, Dave! The birds have usually disappeared by the time I get my camera out. :(
 
Asked my sister-in-law (a professional ornithologist) to take a look at the pics and video. She identifies it as most likely a Hairy Woodpecker, possibly a closely related Downy.

Doug
 
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