OldMan Ed and myself
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mount Oscecola Trail
East Peak (W#32), Mount Osceola (W#33)
7.8 miles, 3100', 5:10
Today's trip was an easier one then the recent average. We didn't even leave my house until 7am, and arrived to a nearly full parking lot at 8:35. The Greeley Ponds Trail was broken out double-wide, and included many open drainages, some of which are bridged by logs. The 1.3 miles to the Mount Osceola Trail went by quickly. With the leaves down and the woods fairly open, the views up to the cliffs which form the north spur of Osceola are pretty impressive. I've been to/by the ponds twice before but have never approached from the Kanc side. The first three tenths or so is not too steep and continues through those open woods before passing through a spruce tunnel, which is fairly level.
North Spur of Osceola, Mount Kancamagus and North Pond from East Slide
Beyond the tunnel, the trail pitches upward and is quite steep (from the split, 1850 feet in 1.5 miles, but the bulk of that is compressed into the middle three-quarters of a mile... more on that later.) The pace slowed a bit as the televators were raised. The trail was still well-packed, but obviously many had switched to crampons at this point. While the snowshoes slid backwards on occasion, with careful foot placement we made it to the slide without incident. We ran into a few other people in this general area and had a brief chat. There was a nice snow path across the slide and we elected to continue using snowshoes.
Bonds, Hancocks and Carrigain (from outlook in the col) - the hairpin on the Kanc is visible down below
Once above the slide, snowshoes were perfect as the grade moderated considerably. We tagged East Osceola 1:50 after leaving the parking lot. This makes winter number 32 for me, and my 100th NH48 4K overall. I wondered if I should count it on the way back but then realized that Zealand, another viewless lump in the woods, rings in at 42 and I will never forget that number either. After a few quick photos, we headed down into the col where we took the usual north-facing photos spanning from Moosilauke to Carrigain.
Looking forward to Osceola, Looking back to East Osceola
At the chimney bypass, a man was down-climbing in crampons, having sent his pack down ahead of time. This was the most challenging part of the day for the snowshoes - if there was ever a time I wanted to have an ice axe, this was it - luckily the crux has two sturdy trees for handholds, and we made it up more easily than I expected. The sun was bright and warm and the snow was soft and spring-like which helped the snowshoes get a good purchase. Beyond the bypass, things level out although the snow-laden trees made the tunnel a bit narrow and a bit wet. Right at the end of the trail, the cobalt-blue sky appears and a few steps later the plateau with the old tower bases spreads out. We stomped our way over to the real summit - which wasn't broken out and neither was the route to Tripoli road - and back before hanging out on the cliff lip below and having lunch.
A special message for a friend (missed you today), OldMan Ed and Tim on Osceola
Looking around we definitely picked a good peak for today. The Presidentials, Franconia Ridge, Garfield and the Twins were all in the clouds. The Bonds were clear but looked to be without much sun. The Hancocks and Carrigain were also brightly lit. As it turned out we had better weather than was forecast. Osceola was my 2nd ever 4K and I've skied in its shadow for 12+ years.
For the return trip we added rain pants and stayed with snowshoes. There was going to be some good butt sliding today (although I am told since there was "no screaming like a little girl" that is wasn't in fact butt sliding) and it did not disappoint. The chimney bypass was smoothed out a lot from other hikers since we came up it, and although it was a tad bit "crunchy", sliding down worked out well. I sat down at the shoulder below East Peak and didn't stop until the bottom of the slide. Getting going again below the slide I encountered a couple who cheered me on as they stepped out of the way. My fun was spoiled when I almost slammed into Jeremy - next time I'll get him - coming up after finishing the Hancocks in the morning. I think we slid down maybe 75% of the trail, at least to the spruce tunnel where it isn't steep enough. Exiting on the Greeley Ponds trail, we ran into many groups out for a walk, including an old colleague from Digital (hi Ray!) back in the mid 1990s.
Osceola from Snow's Mountain (archive photo from XCing), Panorama from Osceola - Hancocks through Tripyramid
All Photos
Tim
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mount Oscecola Trail
East Peak (W#32), Mount Osceola (W#33)
7.8 miles, 3100', 5:10
Today's trip was an easier one then the recent average. We didn't even leave my house until 7am, and arrived to a nearly full parking lot at 8:35. The Greeley Ponds Trail was broken out double-wide, and included many open drainages, some of which are bridged by logs. The 1.3 miles to the Mount Osceola Trail went by quickly. With the leaves down and the woods fairly open, the views up to the cliffs which form the north spur of Osceola are pretty impressive. I've been to/by the ponds twice before but have never approached from the Kanc side. The first three tenths or so is not too steep and continues through those open woods before passing through a spruce tunnel, which is fairly level.
North Spur of Osceola, Mount Kancamagus and North Pond from East Slide
Beyond the tunnel, the trail pitches upward and is quite steep (from the split, 1850 feet in 1.5 miles, but the bulk of that is compressed into the middle three-quarters of a mile... more on that later.) The pace slowed a bit as the televators were raised. The trail was still well-packed, but obviously many had switched to crampons at this point. While the snowshoes slid backwards on occasion, with careful foot placement we made it to the slide without incident. We ran into a few other people in this general area and had a brief chat. There was a nice snow path across the slide and we elected to continue using snowshoes.
Bonds, Hancocks and Carrigain (from outlook in the col) - the hairpin on the Kanc is visible down below
Once above the slide, snowshoes were perfect as the grade moderated considerably. We tagged East Osceola 1:50 after leaving the parking lot. This makes winter number 32 for me, and my 100th NH48 4K overall. I wondered if I should count it on the way back but then realized that Zealand, another viewless lump in the woods, rings in at 42 and I will never forget that number either. After a few quick photos, we headed down into the col where we took the usual north-facing photos spanning from Moosilauke to Carrigain.
Looking forward to Osceola, Looking back to East Osceola
At the chimney bypass, a man was down-climbing in crampons, having sent his pack down ahead of time. This was the most challenging part of the day for the snowshoes - if there was ever a time I wanted to have an ice axe, this was it - luckily the crux has two sturdy trees for handholds, and we made it up more easily than I expected. The sun was bright and warm and the snow was soft and spring-like which helped the snowshoes get a good purchase. Beyond the bypass, things level out although the snow-laden trees made the tunnel a bit narrow and a bit wet. Right at the end of the trail, the cobalt-blue sky appears and a few steps later the plateau with the old tower bases spreads out. We stomped our way over to the real summit - which wasn't broken out and neither was the route to Tripoli road - and back before hanging out on the cliff lip below and having lunch.
A special message for a friend (missed you today), OldMan Ed and Tim on Osceola
Looking around we definitely picked a good peak for today. The Presidentials, Franconia Ridge, Garfield and the Twins were all in the clouds. The Bonds were clear but looked to be without much sun. The Hancocks and Carrigain were also brightly lit. As it turned out we had better weather than was forecast. Osceola was my 2nd ever 4K and I've skied in its shadow for 12+ years.
For the return trip we added rain pants and stayed with snowshoes. There was going to be some good butt sliding today (although I am told since there was "no screaming like a little girl" that is wasn't in fact butt sliding) and it did not disappoint. The chimney bypass was smoothed out a lot from other hikers since we came up it, and although it was a tad bit "crunchy", sliding down worked out well. I sat down at the shoulder below East Peak and didn't stop until the bottom of the slide. Getting going again below the slide I encountered a couple who cheered me on as they stepped out of the way. My fun was spoiled when I almost slammed into Jeremy - next time I'll get him - coming up after finishing the Hancocks in the morning. I think we slid down maybe 75% of the trail, at least to the spruce tunnel where it isn't steep enough. Exiting on the Greeley Ponds trail, we ran into many groups out for a walk, including an old colleague from Digital (hi Ray!) back in the mid 1990s.
Osceola from Snow's Mountain (archive photo from XCing), Panorama from Osceola - Hancocks through Tripyramid
All Photos
Tim
