Last month Whichway and I had planned to hike the Osceolas, but ended up elsewhere. On Saturday we did hike the Osceolas, accompanied by Getawaygirl, Windy, Trailtrotter, and, as always, Delilah the dog. This was, I believe, Trailtrotter's first hike since finishing the grid the weekend before.
The Greeley Ponds trail head parking lot on the Kanc was full when we got there, so we all went to the Hancock trail head lot by the hairpin curve and road walked to the GP trail head. As could be expected with all those cars, we met a number of people on the trail, and a few other dogs.
It was snowing pretty much all day, mostly lightly. There weren't any views to speak of, although once while up high I did get a glimpse of a Greeley Pond. I started out on microspikes, but switched to snow shoes once we turned onto Mt. Osceola Trail, and kept them on the rest of the hike. All of the women, I believe, were on snow shoes the whole way.
Speaking of snow shoes, this was my first hike since I'd repaired mine with post and screws (due to Lawn Sale's suggestion). One of the new screws came out, probably because I didn't tighten it enough, but the rest all held fine.
The trail was broken out, but the new snow kept a layer of powder on the trail. It was somewhat slippery, and the Mt. Osceola Trail headed up to East Osceola is very steep in places, so we had our work cut out for us. Even Trailtrotter said it was a tough hike. For everyone but Delilah, that is; she was bounding up the trail.
Unfortunately, the snow was too powdery for Trailtrotter to make a snowman. Even though the snow was powdery, though, there was enough snow on the trees to make it a beautiful forest.
We finally made it up to East Osceola, and from there to the main peak it's relatively easy, except for the chimney/bypass. We all took the bypass, but even that was difficult.
We didn't spend too much time on the summit of Osceola. There was a brisk wind, and the exposure made it not the best place to hang around.
Coming down the bypass was very tricky. There's one place where the trail turns a corner which I cut, without intending to. We all made it down safely, though.
One the way back up to the Eastern summit my thighs starting cramping up, but I knew they would be OK when we started descending, which would be soon, so I just pushed through it.
The descent down from East Osceola involved a lot of glissading. Some of it was tricky, if not scary. There was one point where a short but steep section ends in a sharp right turn. Trailtrotter successfully negotiated it ahead of the rest of us. Getawaygirl and Windy were carefully walking down the steep section when I decided I could glissade it. I wasn't able to stop at the turn and slid into the woods. Whichway then tried to glissade it, and did the exact same thing I did. Judging by the snow shoe tracks we weren't the first people to do that that day.
We all made it back to the trail head safely, though. Then came the most dangerous part of the hike, driving back in the now heavy snow. We managed that safely as well, though.
Thanks to Whichway for yet another great day in the mountains, and to Getawaygirl, Windy, and Trailtrotter for helping us achieve this goal. I hope to hike with all of you again soon.
East Osceola and Osceola were numbers 26 and 27 of the Winter NH4K list for me.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111: 104/115 (67/67, 35/46, 2/2); Cat35: 22/39; WNH4K: 27/48; NEFF: 30/50
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
The Greeley Ponds trail head parking lot on the Kanc was full when we got there, so we all went to the Hancock trail head lot by the hairpin curve and road walked to the GP trail head. As could be expected with all those cars, we met a number of people on the trail, and a few other dogs.
It was snowing pretty much all day, mostly lightly. There weren't any views to speak of, although once while up high I did get a glimpse of a Greeley Pond. I started out on microspikes, but switched to snow shoes once we turned onto Mt. Osceola Trail, and kept them on the rest of the hike. All of the women, I believe, were on snow shoes the whole way.
Speaking of snow shoes, this was my first hike since I'd repaired mine with post and screws (due to Lawn Sale's suggestion). One of the new screws came out, probably because I didn't tighten it enough, but the rest all held fine.
The trail was broken out, but the new snow kept a layer of powder on the trail. It was somewhat slippery, and the Mt. Osceola Trail headed up to East Osceola is very steep in places, so we had our work cut out for us. Even Trailtrotter said it was a tough hike. For everyone but Delilah, that is; she was bounding up the trail.
Unfortunately, the snow was too powdery for Trailtrotter to make a snowman. Even though the snow was powdery, though, there was enough snow on the trees to make it a beautiful forest.
We finally made it up to East Osceola, and from there to the main peak it's relatively easy, except for the chimney/bypass. We all took the bypass, but even that was difficult.
We didn't spend too much time on the summit of Osceola. There was a brisk wind, and the exposure made it not the best place to hang around.
Coming down the bypass was very tricky. There's one place where the trail turns a corner which I cut, without intending to. We all made it down safely, though.
One the way back up to the Eastern summit my thighs starting cramping up, but I knew they would be OK when we started descending, which would be soon, so I just pushed through it.
The descent down from East Osceola involved a lot of glissading. Some of it was tricky, if not scary. There was one point where a short but steep section ends in a sharp right turn. Trailtrotter successfully negotiated it ahead of the rest of us. Getawaygirl and Windy were carefully walking down the steep section when I decided I could glissade it. I wasn't able to stop at the turn and slid into the woods. Whichway then tried to glissade it, and did the exact same thing I did. Judging by the snow shoe tracks we weren't the first people to do that that day.
We all made it back to the trail head safely, though. Then came the most dangerous part of the hike, driving back in the now heavy snow. We managed that safely as well, though.
Thanks to Whichway for yet another great day in the mountains, and to Getawaygirl, Windy, and Trailtrotter for helping us achieve this goal. I hope to hike with all of you again soon.
East Osceola and Osceola were numbers 26 and 27 of the Winter NH4K list for me.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111: 104/115 (67/67, 35/46, 2/2); Cat35: 22/39; WNH4K: 27/48; NEFF: 30/50
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
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