blacknblue
Active member
What with the rain forecast to begin Saturday and continue for roughly the next 23 days, I decided to take Friday to get a nice hike in. I had a few different ideas, but here’s how it turned out:
I left Quechee, Vermont, at 4:45am, getting to the Tripoli Road and Mount Osceola Trail by 6:15. I stashed my bike and helmet in the woods, and drove down to the Livermore Road/Trail. It was a bit chilly as I watched the alpenglow hit Mount Tecumseh from the empty parking lot, but quite enjoyable. I forgot to check my watch when I left, but it was 6:55 when I turned onto the Greeley Ponds Trail. In about an hour, I was at a very quiet Lower Greeley Pond. I took my time at each Greeley Pond, with no one around, and fog rising from the waters. A terrific morning! The ponds were beautiful. Had it not been a chilly morning, a little dip would have been in order. Instead, I contented myself to watch the fog and gaze at the cliffs of Mount Kanc and East Osceola.
I took a number of pictures, including one of the tracks of either a beaver or a raccoon. The calico aster and hobblebush viburnum were out in full force. At least I think that's what they are; my biology knowledge fails me.
I hit the Mount Osceola Trail around 8:50 and hung a sharp left. The sign said 1.5 miles to East Osceola and I thought I remembered reading that it was a 2000-foot vert gain. In other words: yikes, that’s steep! After thirty minutes, just as I was thinking that it wasn’t that bad – bam! It gets steep. I hit the slide with a great view after 45 minutes, and then the second viewpoint about ten minutes later, which goes left off the trail to a majestic viewpoint of Osceola, Scar Ridge, and points west.
I reached the summit at almost exactly 10:00. There were two people descending off the summit—the first folks I saw all day. Three other dudes were hanging out there, having come up from the Tripoli Road. I would see them on the main Osceola summit, too.
The descent to the col offers two lookouts, mainly to the north. The much-ballyhooed chimney was fun, albeit a bit tricky while carrying hiking poles in one hand. I was atop Osceola by 10:45.
The weather was outstanding the entire day. Clouds were moving in, but nothing threatening. Views of Sandwich, the Tri’s, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Chocorua, and Mount Kanc were terrific.
I finally quit meandering around the summit at 11:30ish and started to descend. The trail takes a sharp left for Breadtray Ridge (or something like that) and there appears to be a strong herd path going straight ahead. I assume this is the route to West Osceola, which looked pretty sweet from the viewpoint beneath East Osceola. It’s officially on MY peakbagging list, the “Blacknblue’s ‘Yo, I Gotta Check That Out Some Day’” List.
I passed a number of people on the descent. Apparently, climbing the route I took is not too popular. I was down by 12:45 or so. I grabbed my bike and helmet out of the woods, and took a mellow cruise down the Tripoli Road to my car, going rather slowly thanks to the goofy weight distribution of my backpack and hiking poles.
All in all, September is off to a roaring start.
Pics here : http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...de=fromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1
Edit: I have a lot of trouble getting Kodak's Ofotos to link properly. They'll work once, then the same URL will not work five minutes later. Anybody have this problem?
I left Quechee, Vermont, at 4:45am, getting to the Tripoli Road and Mount Osceola Trail by 6:15. I stashed my bike and helmet in the woods, and drove down to the Livermore Road/Trail. It was a bit chilly as I watched the alpenglow hit Mount Tecumseh from the empty parking lot, but quite enjoyable. I forgot to check my watch when I left, but it was 6:55 when I turned onto the Greeley Ponds Trail. In about an hour, I was at a very quiet Lower Greeley Pond. I took my time at each Greeley Pond, with no one around, and fog rising from the waters. A terrific morning! The ponds were beautiful. Had it not been a chilly morning, a little dip would have been in order. Instead, I contented myself to watch the fog and gaze at the cliffs of Mount Kanc and East Osceola.
I took a number of pictures, including one of the tracks of either a beaver or a raccoon. The calico aster and hobblebush viburnum were out in full force. At least I think that's what they are; my biology knowledge fails me.
I hit the Mount Osceola Trail around 8:50 and hung a sharp left. The sign said 1.5 miles to East Osceola and I thought I remembered reading that it was a 2000-foot vert gain. In other words: yikes, that’s steep! After thirty minutes, just as I was thinking that it wasn’t that bad – bam! It gets steep. I hit the slide with a great view after 45 minutes, and then the second viewpoint about ten minutes later, which goes left off the trail to a majestic viewpoint of Osceola, Scar Ridge, and points west.
I reached the summit at almost exactly 10:00. There were two people descending off the summit—the first folks I saw all day. Three other dudes were hanging out there, having come up from the Tripoli Road. I would see them on the main Osceola summit, too.
The descent to the col offers two lookouts, mainly to the north. The much-ballyhooed chimney was fun, albeit a bit tricky while carrying hiking poles in one hand. I was atop Osceola by 10:45.
The weather was outstanding the entire day. Clouds were moving in, but nothing threatening. Views of Sandwich, the Tri’s, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Chocorua, and Mount Kanc were terrific.
I finally quit meandering around the summit at 11:30ish and started to descend. The trail takes a sharp left for Breadtray Ridge (or something like that) and there appears to be a strong herd path going straight ahead. I assume this is the route to West Osceola, which looked pretty sweet from the viewpoint beneath East Osceola. It’s officially on MY peakbagging list, the “Blacknblue’s ‘Yo, I Gotta Check That Out Some Day’” List.
I passed a number of people on the descent. Apparently, climbing the route I took is not too popular. I was down by 12:45 or so. I grabbed my bike and helmet out of the woods, and took a mellow cruise down the Tripoli Road to my car, going rather slowly thanks to the goofy weight distribution of my backpack and hiking poles.
All in all, September is off to a roaring start.
Pics here : http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...de=fromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1
Edit: I have a lot of trouble getting Kodak's Ofotos to link properly. They'll work once, then the same URL will not work five minutes later. Anybody have this problem?
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