BIGEarl
Well-known member
October 15, 2011: Hancocks (attempt) and Osceolas
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail (aborted hike), Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail
Summits: Osceola, Osceola East Peak
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
There has been a huge amount of rain over the past week (again) and the area was under a flood watch. I was sure there would be high water but didn’t expect high water where we found it on Hancock Notch Trail. The early forecast for the day had the rain stopping around 3:00 – 4:00am and conditions improving a little. We arrived at Hancock Notch trailhead and the rain was still falling. We decided to wait for a while and let the rain stop before heading out.
Our first targets were Hancocks. Over the past couple years; we have made it a habit to combine these two hikes into the same day. We have routinely been able to hike The Hancocks in the morning and The Osceolas in the afternoon. This time around there was high water and lots of it.
Once the weather conditions caught up to the forecast we set off. The Hancock Notch Trail was wet, really wet with a lot more mud, standing water, and flowing water than I’ve ever seen it. There are enough rocks and other high spots available to help get through the tough places. Small areas of drainage are now running streams. As we came closer to the Hancock Notch – Cedar Brook trails junction the water problems grew. We were able to get past the first couple crossings without a problem. Finally, it happened. We came to a crossing that had no good way to cross. There were no high spots for a rock-hop crossing and all of the rocks we found seemed to be submerged more than our boots could handle. We spent quite a bit of time looking and realizing whatever we did on the way in we would have to do the reverse of on the way out. Eventually, both Sue and I came to the same conclusions; the Hancocks were going to take a lot more time than usual, we would probably come to much more difficult crossing conditions on Cedar Brook Trail, and due to the tough conditions and slow progress we would be unable to get both hikes done. Before we reached the point-of-no-return we decided to bail and head to The Osceolas for more of a sure thing.
We wasted little time in moving from the Hancock Notch trailhead a short distance west on the Kanc to the Greeley Ponds trailhead. A couple other vehicles were there but parking in this small trailhead lot wasn’t a problem. In the lot I saw a notice the Greeley Ponds Trail was closed from Lower Greeley Pond to Livermore Road citing dangerous conditions on the trail. I’m guessing TS Irene was involved.
Already a big chunk of the morning was lost on Hancock Notch Trail but it was still early in the day and there was plenty of time for the planned hike. We grabbed our things and took off. Actually, the hike would need all of the time we had to work with.
Soon after starting out the Greeley Ponds Trail it was clear we had a sloppy hike ahead. There was a lot of mud and standing water. Fortunately, the worst of it was bridged. We were making really good progress – for a while. Roughly .2 miles from the trailhead we came to a feeder stream for the South Branch of the Pemigewasset. It was up – way up! At first glance it appeared we might have another show-stopper. I made a comment to Sue about heading for Tripoli Road and hiking from the other side. We started upstream looking for a way across. After a couple hundred yards we decided to turn around. We worked our way downstream to the trail crossing looking for anything we may have missed. At the trail crossing we met another hiker. He wasn’t interested in wading across and neither were we. I noticed a string of rocks; some of them submerged that appeared adequate. I took a shot and made it across to the far side, dry. Then I returned, again dry. Sue was game and we set off to cross the stream and continue the hike. First, Sue removed her poles from their usual place in her pack. We both needed all the help we could get on the crossing. By the time we were both on the far side, the other hiker was gone.
From there it was just wet, muddy, generally sloppy conditions for most of the hike. It wasn’t all a mess; we found areas that drained well. We reached the Greeley Pond – Mt. Osceola trail junction, made the turn, and headed for The Osceola peaks. Because of the amount of rain and wind that accompanied it, much of the foliage was now on the ground. We had a carpet of fall colors hiding all sorts of surprises; wet rocks, mud pits, wet roots, deep standing water, and more. It seems the worse hazards were reasonably exposed and we were able to work around them. Soon we were on the steep climb to East Osceola. The climb to the ridge was a little more interesting than usual with lots of running water over the rocks and ledge. The crossing of East Osceola Slide had multiple sections of running water that required added focus. Above the slide was better with less running water but we still had wet and slippery conditions.
We hit the ridge and just kept moving toward East Osceola. The climb from there moderates and in a short time we were at the summit cairn getting a couple pictures. From East Osceola to the main summit is only a mile with 550 feet in elevation but The Chimney is in the middle and there are mud pits all along the way. She enjoys climbing The Chimney and hiking through this area always makes Sue smile. This time through our trip up The Chimney included running water. That was an interesting twist. With focus turned up a couple notches we both managed to complete the climb without mishap. Above The Chimney we were back into the mud pits. Eventually we were on final approach to the main peak and our turn-around.
After getting the usual summit pictures plus a few distance view shots we made the turn and headed back out the way we hiked in. There were some interesting obstacles we needed to get past and our progress hiking in was much slower than usual. Getting out before dark was starting to look questionable.
Roughly half-way to The Chimney we came to a sheltered place on the trail and stopped for a quick snack. Conditions on the summit were pretty windy and uncomfortable so we delayed our usual summit snack. Sue pulled out some cookies and I had a candy bar to share. While we enjoyed the short break several other hikers came through along with a couple dogs. They all appeared to be on a day hike since there were none with large packs and obvious overnight gear.
With the cookies and candy bar done we were back on our exit hike. Being as focused on the way in as we were it was easy to remember our approach to the obstacles we encountered along the way. When we reached The Chimney there was no hesitation on Sue’s part; we both headed for the bypass expecting there would be no running water. We guessed right. After The Chimney we needed to get through the steep descent from the ridge on East Osceola. It was slow down to the East Osceola slide, and even slower below the slide but we reached the bottom with no slips along the way. From there it’s usually an easy cruise to the trailhead but we still had a high stream to cross and daylight was starting to fade fast.
We hit Greeley Ponds Trail, made the turn, and kept moving. We had only 1.1 to the stream crossing and 1.3 to the truck. We were still working without headlights when we reached the stream crossing. I already had my poles out and Sue quickly pulled hers from her pack - again. (That’s twice in one hike!) We left the trail heading upstream to the crossing point we used earlier. I went first. With low light conditions it was a little more difficult but everything went well. I made it and stayed dry. Sue was next and was also able to make the crossing without a problem.
Only .2 miles and we reached the trailhead lot. As we walked to the truck the rain started. It didn’t take long to toss our things into the back and ourselves into the front. In just a few minutes we were on the Kanc headed west. After a quick stop at Lincoln Woods we were on the highway south.
It’s been three weeks since our last hike. Even with the wet, muddy conditions we had a good day.
Thanks Sue.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day. Pictures courtesy of Sue.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail (aborted hike), Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail
Summits: Osceola, Osceola East Peak
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
There has been a huge amount of rain over the past week (again) and the area was under a flood watch. I was sure there would be high water but didn’t expect high water where we found it on Hancock Notch Trail. The early forecast for the day had the rain stopping around 3:00 – 4:00am and conditions improving a little. We arrived at Hancock Notch trailhead and the rain was still falling. We decided to wait for a while and let the rain stop before heading out.
Our first targets were Hancocks. Over the past couple years; we have made it a habit to combine these two hikes into the same day. We have routinely been able to hike The Hancocks in the morning and The Osceolas in the afternoon. This time around there was high water and lots of it.
Once the weather conditions caught up to the forecast we set off. The Hancock Notch Trail was wet, really wet with a lot more mud, standing water, and flowing water than I’ve ever seen it. There are enough rocks and other high spots available to help get through the tough places. Small areas of drainage are now running streams. As we came closer to the Hancock Notch – Cedar Brook trails junction the water problems grew. We were able to get past the first couple crossings without a problem. Finally, it happened. We came to a crossing that had no good way to cross. There were no high spots for a rock-hop crossing and all of the rocks we found seemed to be submerged more than our boots could handle. We spent quite a bit of time looking and realizing whatever we did on the way in we would have to do the reverse of on the way out. Eventually, both Sue and I came to the same conclusions; the Hancocks were going to take a lot more time than usual, we would probably come to much more difficult crossing conditions on Cedar Brook Trail, and due to the tough conditions and slow progress we would be unable to get both hikes done. Before we reached the point-of-no-return we decided to bail and head to The Osceolas for more of a sure thing.
We wasted little time in moving from the Hancock Notch trailhead a short distance west on the Kanc to the Greeley Ponds trailhead. A couple other vehicles were there but parking in this small trailhead lot wasn’t a problem. In the lot I saw a notice the Greeley Ponds Trail was closed from Lower Greeley Pond to Livermore Road citing dangerous conditions on the trail. I’m guessing TS Irene was involved.
Already a big chunk of the morning was lost on Hancock Notch Trail but it was still early in the day and there was plenty of time for the planned hike. We grabbed our things and took off. Actually, the hike would need all of the time we had to work with.
Soon after starting out the Greeley Ponds Trail it was clear we had a sloppy hike ahead. There was a lot of mud and standing water. Fortunately, the worst of it was bridged. We were making really good progress – for a while. Roughly .2 miles from the trailhead we came to a feeder stream for the South Branch of the Pemigewasset. It was up – way up! At first glance it appeared we might have another show-stopper. I made a comment to Sue about heading for Tripoli Road and hiking from the other side. We started upstream looking for a way across. After a couple hundred yards we decided to turn around. We worked our way downstream to the trail crossing looking for anything we may have missed. At the trail crossing we met another hiker. He wasn’t interested in wading across and neither were we. I noticed a string of rocks; some of them submerged that appeared adequate. I took a shot and made it across to the far side, dry. Then I returned, again dry. Sue was game and we set off to cross the stream and continue the hike. First, Sue removed her poles from their usual place in her pack. We both needed all the help we could get on the crossing. By the time we were both on the far side, the other hiker was gone.
From there it was just wet, muddy, generally sloppy conditions for most of the hike. It wasn’t all a mess; we found areas that drained well. We reached the Greeley Pond – Mt. Osceola trail junction, made the turn, and headed for The Osceola peaks. Because of the amount of rain and wind that accompanied it, much of the foliage was now on the ground. We had a carpet of fall colors hiding all sorts of surprises; wet rocks, mud pits, wet roots, deep standing water, and more. It seems the worse hazards were reasonably exposed and we were able to work around them. Soon we were on the steep climb to East Osceola. The climb to the ridge was a little more interesting than usual with lots of running water over the rocks and ledge. The crossing of East Osceola Slide had multiple sections of running water that required added focus. Above the slide was better with less running water but we still had wet and slippery conditions.
We hit the ridge and just kept moving toward East Osceola. The climb from there moderates and in a short time we were at the summit cairn getting a couple pictures. From East Osceola to the main summit is only a mile with 550 feet in elevation but The Chimney is in the middle and there are mud pits all along the way. She enjoys climbing The Chimney and hiking through this area always makes Sue smile. This time through our trip up The Chimney included running water. That was an interesting twist. With focus turned up a couple notches we both managed to complete the climb without mishap. Above The Chimney we were back into the mud pits. Eventually we were on final approach to the main peak and our turn-around.
After getting the usual summit pictures plus a few distance view shots we made the turn and headed back out the way we hiked in. There were some interesting obstacles we needed to get past and our progress hiking in was much slower than usual. Getting out before dark was starting to look questionable.
Roughly half-way to The Chimney we came to a sheltered place on the trail and stopped for a quick snack. Conditions on the summit were pretty windy and uncomfortable so we delayed our usual summit snack. Sue pulled out some cookies and I had a candy bar to share. While we enjoyed the short break several other hikers came through along with a couple dogs. They all appeared to be on a day hike since there were none with large packs and obvious overnight gear.
With the cookies and candy bar done we were back on our exit hike. Being as focused on the way in as we were it was easy to remember our approach to the obstacles we encountered along the way. When we reached The Chimney there was no hesitation on Sue’s part; we both headed for the bypass expecting there would be no running water. We guessed right. After The Chimney we needed to get through the steep descent from the ridge on East Osceola. It was slow down to the East Osceola slide, and even slower below the slide but we reached the bottom with no slips along the way. From there it’s usually an easy cruise to the trailhead but we still had a high stream to cross and daylight was starting to fade fast.
We hit Greeley Ponds Trail, made the turn, and kept moving. We had only 1.1 to the stream crossing and 1.3 to the truck. We were still working without headlights when we reached the stream crossing. I already had my poles out and Sue quickly pulled hers from her pack - again. (That’s twice in one hike!) We left the trail heading upstream to the crossing point we used earlier. I went first. With low light conditions it was a little more difficult but everything went well. I made it and stayed dry. Sue was next and was also able to make the crossing without a problem.
Only .2 miles and we reached the trailhead lot. As we walked to the truck the rain started. It didn’t take long to toss our things into the back and ourselves into the front. In just a few minutes we were on the Kanc headed west. After a quick stop at Lincoln Woods we were on the highway south.
It’s been three weeks since our last hike. Even with the wet, muddy conditions we had a good day.
Thanks Sue.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day. Pictures courtesy of Sue.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
