Weather: Warm, Muggy, Cloudy
Trail: Osceola Trail, Tripoli Road approach
Trail Conditions: The trail is never very steep heading up Osceola. The first part of the hike up Osceola is rocky and not great for footing. The trail improves as you get higher. The chimney between Osceola and East Osceola requires some concentration but it is fun.
Views: Clouds moved in as the hike progressed. I was able to spot Tecumseh while hiking up Osceola. No view on the first summit of Osceola. No view on East Osceola. The second time I reached the Osceola summit the weather had cleared enough to spot East Osceola.
Group: Mike – solo
Making good use of a vacation day and attempting to play a little catch up with Brian and Anai, I set out to hike the Osceolas. I can honestly say the first 45 minutes of this trip was probably the most miserable I have spent in the Whites. Four main factors contributed to this: 1) the terrain is very rocky and does not allow for good footing, 2) it was very warm and muggy, 3) the bugs were thick - at one point I had four part harmony in my left ear, 4) being the first traveler up the mountain that morning I got tens if not hundreds of spider webs across my face, many landing across my eyelashes. I was not having a good time.
Rocky Terrain
The rocks weren’t going away so no matter what the conditions I was going to have to deal with them. Despite it not being a steep ascent, it was difficult to make good time with the tricky footing. I was quickly sweating off the bug repellant so for the first time I dug out the head net. This also helped with the spider webs but it made the heat and mugginess a bit worse. I kept it on for about twenty minutes and then took it off once I got to a point where the bugs and spider webs weren’t as bad.
The trail improves quite a bit about halfway up with less rocks and better footing. There is some sloped ledge over good portions but otherwise it is much better.
Upon reaching the summit I was pretty disappointed that there was nothing to see. The clouds parted just enough for me to see part of the valley below. Although I had the summit all to myself, there wasn’t I wasted little time and headed down into the col between the two mountains where I would see my first fellow hiker of the day coming toward me. After talking with the gentleman for a minute and sharing information on the trails and weather it dawned on me that I was speaking with Steve Smith, owner of the Mountain Wanderer bookstore in Lincoln, editor of the AMC Guide to the White Mountains, and author of the main source I have been using on my 48 – “The 4000-Footers of the White Mountains”. He said that I looked familiar and I told him that I had been in his bookstore about four weeks ago (see my first post), bought his book and had him sign it. I shared with him all the summits I had reached since then. Steve had approached from the Kanc so we would cross paths again in an hour or so.
Mt. Osceola USGS Benchmark
I proceeded down into the col and diverted to the left around the “chimney”, a narrow and nearly vertical chute that is about 15 - 20 feet high. The summit of East Osceola is treed in, which didn’t matter much on this day because the weather was not cooperating anyway. I headed back down into the col and this time came up the chimney. It was challenging but fun. About five minutes before reaching the summit of Osceola for the second time I saw Steve Smith again. He said he waited around a little bit for the clouds to part but they never did and he wished me well on my continued journey over the 48.
The Chimney
Cairn at East Osceola Summit
Upon reaching Osceola again I found it was a little crowded this time. There was a group of four women resting and eating down on the ledges and a group of about 12 boys and leader from an area camp. The weather cleared enough so I could finally see East Osceola and get a good view of the area I had just traversed out and back.
East Osceola as seen from Osceola
After a quick lunch I was ready to start my descent. It was fairly uneventful, no falls or injuries but slow going with the rocky footing. The hike lasted about 6 hours. As I headed down 49 toward 93 it was tough to pass by the Mad River Tavern but it was early in the afternoon; too late for lunch, too early for dinner. I settled on an ice coffee before hitting the highway.
Gear Notes:
I did both this hike and Tecumseh in my New Balance 966 trail shoes. They worked well for Tecumseh but may not have been the best choice for the rocky terrain of Osceola. Boots with a bit more ankle support may have worked out better.
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