Mad Townie
New member
OK, so its name on the map is “Osceola”, but you get the idea. On the Osceola Trail, from the Greeley Ponds Trail to the summit of Little Osceola, there were so many blowdowns that I stopped counting at 20—and there were lots more!
Sunday was a beautiful day, clear and cool as I headed out of the parking lot at 7:30. Mine was the only vehicle there. The stream crossings were “interesting.” The rocks that looked dry tended to be glazed with transparent ice, and the others just looked icy. Still, I managed to stay dry by stepping only on those that were under about an inch of water.
At one point shortly after turning onto the Osceola Trail, I stopped before a blowdown under which I would have to crawl, and suddenly I heard a loud clatter. Icefall! The ice on the cliffs was being heated by the rising sun, and as it began to melt large chunks of it began to fall. That music accompanied me for the remainder of my walk along the cliffs, with about 2 or 3 falls per minute.
Then the trail turned and began to climb Little Osceola. I had read the recent thread about “easiest 400 footers,” so I was a bit surprised to find the trail become quite steep and rough. At one point I took a break and looked at the guidebook (I had only looked at the map before then) and learned my error: the easy trail is from the OTHER side of the mountain, from the Tripoli Road.
Blowdown after blowdown slowed my ascent, many of them seeming quite fresh. Then they stopped. Soon after that I encountered the first of three sizeable ice flows in the trail. The group that climbed this same trail the day before described them quite accurately. Although I was carrying serious crampons, I was able to find a way around the first two. Then came the third, a slide (actually the ledge left over after the top layer had slid). The trail climbed diagonally across it, and there were several ice flows separated by fairly steep portions of ledge. Although I didn’t put on my crampons (yeah, I know—idiot!
), I was able to pick my way across and up by using techniques I had learned in rock climbing, along with the adrenaline that came with the fear. A fall at that point would have meant a slide down 40 or 50 feet of steep ice and rock, and certain serious injury, but those little hopping foot changes and back stepping saved me.
After I reached the other side of the slide, I decided I would definitely wear the crampons on the way down! That turned out to be the last ice flow. There was no wind until I reached the summit cairn on Little Osceola, and even there the breeze was quite light. Then it was a drop into the col, and the climb up to the higher summit of Mt. Osceola. Although the chimney at the start of the climb was full of ice and not climbable without equipment and a belay, there was a detour that involved only a bit of steep rock. The summit ledges were sunny and beautiful, with lots of great views to the south and east toward the Tripyramids. A little distance away was a ledge offering a spectacular view into the Pemi, with the snow capped peaks of Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield and (I think) South Twin in the distance. At one point later in the hike I also caught some good views of the Prezzies. I only saw two people on the mountain all day, a couple who had come up from Tripoli Road.
The hike back down was pleasant and uneventful. I put on my crampons before the slide and kept them on until I had completed the third ice flow. They made the navigation of the flows quite easy, and the slide would have been even more dangerous on the descent than on the ascent without them. Now they need a good sharpening!
After returning to the truck I headed in to Woodstock Station for dinner. Didn’t catch a glimpse of any hiker-looking people, though, to my disappointment. Then there was the long drive back to Portland.
This mountain will be great fun in the winter, once the snowpack covers the rocks and we can wear crampons for all the steeps. I imagine it would be pretty much fun in the summer, too, without the ice flows. But of course I had to do it during the in between season, to add some excitement to the walk! Hmmm, where to next?
Sunday was a beautiful day, clear and cool as I headed out of the parking lot at 7:30. Mine was the only vehicle there. The stream crossings were “interesting.” The rocks that looked dry tended to be glazed with transparent ice, and the others just looked icy. Still, I managed to stay dry by stepping only on those that were under about an inch of water.
At one point shortly after turning onto the Osceola Trail, I stopped before a blowdown under which I would have to crawl, and suddenly I heard a loud clatter. Icefall! The ice on the cliffs was being heated by the rising sun, and as it began to melt large chunks of it began to fall. That music accompanied me for the remainder of my walk along the cliffs, with about 2 or 3 falls per minute.
Then the trail turned and began to climb Little Osceola. I had read the recent thread about “easiest 400 footers,” so I was a bit surprised to find the trail become quite steep and rough. At one point I took a break and looked at the guidebook (I had only looked at the map before then) and learned my error: the easy trail is from the OTHER side of the mountain, from the Tripoli Road.
Blowdown after blowdown slowed my ascent, many of them seeming quite fresh. Then they stopped. Soon after that I encountered the first of three sizeable ice flows in the trail. The group that climbed this same trail the day before described them quite accurately. Although I was carrying serious crampons, I was able to find a way around the first two. Then came the third, a slide (actually the ledge left over after the top layer had slid). The trail climbed diagonally across it, and there were several ice flows separated by fairly steep portions of ledge. Although I didn’t put on my crampons (yeah, I know—idiot!
), I was able to pick my way across and up by using techniques I had learned in rock climbing, along with the adrenaline that came with the fear. A fall at that point would have meant a slide down 40 or 50 feet of steep ice and rock, and certain serious injury, but those little hopping foot changes and back stepping saved me.After I reached the other side of the slide, I decided I would definitely wear the crampons on the way down! That turned out to be the last ice flow. There was no wind until I reached the summit cairn on Little Osceola, and even there the breeze was quite light. Then it was a drop into the col, and the climb up to the higher summit of Mt. Osceola. Although the chimney at the start of the climb was full of ice and not climbable without equipment and a belay, there was a detour that involved only a bit of steep rock. The summit ledges were sunny and beautiful, with lots of great views to the south and east toward the Tripyramids. A little distance away was a ledge offering a spectacular view into the Pemi, with the snow capped peaks of Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield and (I think) South Twin in the distance. At one point later in the hike I also caught some good views of the Prezzies. I only saw two people on the mountain all day, a couple who had come up from Tripoli Road.
The hike back down was pleasant and uneventful. I put on my crampons before the slide and kept them on until I had completed the third ice flow. They made the navigation of the flows quite easy, and the slide would have been even more dangerous on the descent than on the ascent without them. Now they need a good sharpening!
After returning to the truck I headed in to Woodstock Station for dinner. Didn’t catch a glimpse of any hiker-looking people, though, to my disappointment. Then there was the long drive back to Portland.
This mountain will be great fun in the winter, once the snowpack covers the rocks and we can wear crampons for all the steeps. I imagine it would be pretty much fun in the summer, too, without the ice flows. But of course I had to do it during the in between season, to add some excitement to the walk! Hmmm, where to next?
