Mt Osceola (4340 ft) and East Osceola (4156 ft) – July 8, 2010

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.  

Mount Waumbek (4006 feet) via Mount Starr King (3898 feet) - June 6, 2010

Weather: Rain, steady at times
Trail: Starr King Trail to Starr King Mountain (1:50), cross ridge to Waumbek (35 min). 7.2 miles roundtrip. Hit trail at noon. Back to car by 5:15.
Trail Conditions: Wet rocks, roots, and some mud. There were some blowdowns on the ridge between the two summits but they had been trimmed up a bit to allow them to be negotiated easier. Otherwise, this is a very well maintained RMC trail.
View: None. This mountain is treed-in at the top with no exposure. The weather prevented us from seeing the available views from Starr King.
Group: Mike, Brian and Anai

We made a few stops in Lincoln on the way up, picked up our WMNF parking passes for the year at the Visitors Center, then stopped into the Mountain Wanderer Book and Map Store to meet Steve Smith and pick up his book “The 4000 Footers in the White Mountains”. Steve was very kind to sign my new copy and also signed Brian’s well used copy. I thought about purchasing it earlier in the spring but figured I’d wait and buy it from the source on the way up. Then we were off to Price Chopper because I left my lunch in the fridge at home. Luckily that was the only thing I forgot, aside from sunglasses which I would not need this day.

We knew when we headed out that it would be a rainy day. We considered a few factors and decided to make the trip anyway. First, the summit is treed-in, providing protection if we got caught in a storm and also preventing us from seeing any views even on a sunny day and second, the trail was not technical in any way and we had enough gear to keep us “mostly dry”.

The trail is easy to find. Starr King Road is just off of the state highway and well marked. It dead-ends at the trailhead. It is a small parking lot, but on this day there were only two other cars there.

We started out in a light rain. About a half mile in we decided we were sweating so much in our raingear that we would shed it and allow ourselves to get wet on the way up, knowing we had dry clothes to change into at the top for the descent. The trip up was fairly uneventful. Within a few minutes we met the occupants of the only other two cars at the trailhead and from that moment on we had Starr King and Waumbek to ourselves this day. Starr King is a very steady climb. When we got to the top of Starr King we quickly started to cool off, being wet and no longer producing heat from climbing. So we took a few quick pictures at the fireplace and moved on to Mt. Waumbek. The col was uneventful other than a few blowdowns. Between the treed in summit and the foul weather there wasn’t much to see on Waumbek. As soon as we stopped moving we got pretty cold so it was out of the wet clothes and into some dry ones. Luckily it was not raining while we were at the summit so we could comfortably get into some dry clothes. We all wore raingear for the hike back out – and good thing we did because we hit another steady rain on the descent from Starr King. The wet rocks, roots, and mud made for less than ideal conditions on the way down but we made it back safely.

Brian and Anai shared with me their post hike tradition of eating at the Mad River Tavern off exit 28 in Campton, NH. Great stop for hungry hikers on the way home. I recommend the chili and Thai salmon.

We look like drowned rats in what few photos I took of this wet hike.

Gear Notes

This was my first hike with my new Gregory z30 day pack. It fits great and no sore shoulders afterwards. It performed as expected. Pretty comfortable. Perhaps a more detailed gear review of the z30 in the future.

With the wet trail on the way down, and my knees feeling a little more than my age, some poles would have been nice. Something I will consider for the future.

A pack cover is a necessity if hiking in rain. I didn’t have one. Brian and Anai did – they learned that lesson after doing the Presidential Traverse. I consider myself lucky that I learned my lesson easier than they did.

I also do not own gaiters and have wanted them for a while. They would have helped keep the rain from getting my socks wet.

I had a blister on my right big toe start to develop in the last mile or so of the descent. At that point, being close to finished and it raining pretty hard, I decided to keep going rather than digging out the athletic tape or moleskin. The right sock was the one that got wet in my pack for lack of a pack cover. I’ve been considering new boots because I think my feet move too much in the ones I have and I wear heavy socks to compensate. I got the green superfeet at EMS hoping it would take up some room but I didn’t notice much of a difference. I had no problems on the way up, just some issues on that last mile. I think the combination of the wet sock and some movement of the foot inside the boot caused the blister.

At Brian’s suggestion I picked up some Under Armor heatgear compression boxers. Great product. Never leave for the mountains without them!