It was very cold and quite windy on Sunday morning, and we expected to see quite a few people doing the Osceolas, but instead saw just one individual and one couple, in addition to myself and my friend Neil, who goes by HikesWithKat.
The trail was packed down nicely the entire way over to Osceola, and I was able to get over wearing microspikes. I decided to put on crampons for the trip down from East Osceola, although we saw a woman do it safely enough in microspikes. There is still a LOT of snow on the ridgeline, and that is before the forecasted Monday storm. We found ourselves having to push branches from the overhead canopy out of the way quite frequently.
Only one gnarly stream crossing at the bottom, and someone built a small and functional bridge over it with some branches.
Notably, it was very windy, and by the time we had gotten off the mountain, as it were, and started back down, part of our trail had already been completely obscured by blowing snow.
Be cautious on the return not to end up following the blue blazed ski trail. The hiking trail bears right at a fork, and there are no yellow blazes at that point. If you're not careful, you can easily find yourself at a parking lot farther down the Kanc towards Lincoln that you would like.
All the best,
Brian
The trail was packed down nicely the entire way over to Osceola, and I was able to get over wearing microspikes. I decided to put on crampons for the trip down from East Osceola, although we saw a woman do it safely enough in microspikes. There is still a LOT of snow on the ridgeline, and that is before the forecasted Monday storm. We found ourselves having to push branches from the overhead canopy out of the way quite frequently.
Only one gnarly stream crossing at the bottom, and someone built a small and functional bridge over it with some branches.
Notably, it was very windy, and by the time we had gotten off the mountain, as it were, and started back down, part of our trail had already been completely obscured by blowing snow.
Be cautious on the return not to end up following the blue blazed ski trail. The hiking trail bears right at a fork, and there are no yellow blazes at that point. If you're not careful, you can easily find yourself at a parking lot farther down the Kanc towards Lincoln that you would like.
All the best,
Brian
