N
NH_Mtn_Hiker
Guest
Date(s) Hiked:
Sunday, May 16th
Trails(s) Hiked:
Greeley Ponds Trail and Mt. Osceola Trail
Total Distance:
7.6 miles (about 3100' elev. gain)
Difficulty:
Strenuous
Conditions:
Very Wet, thunderstorms the previous night
Special Required Equipment:
Common sense and good foot placement
Trip Report:
The beginning:
This morning 9 of us headed north to hike Mt. Osceola from Tripoli Rd. 3 of us arrived at the gated west end (of tripoli Rd.) about 2 miles from I-93(exit 31). We got on the cell phone to find out where the rest of our group was and discovered that they had come in from the east through Waterville Valley and were only about 1.5 miles from the Mt. Osceola trail. They decided they didn't want to wait for us to drive around and were going to start hiking. We decided we weren't walking 5 miles to the trail head, so I told them we would find another way and meet them at the top. As we headed for the Greeley Ponds trailhead I prayed the others were slow hikers.
The hike:
The Greeley Ponds trail was a little muddy in places, but the mud never touched anything but soles of my boots. Strategically placed rocks in the brooks made all water crossing relatively easy.
Ascending the East Peak via the Mt. Osceola trail: What can I say, the upper 1.5 miles of this trail is a real "kick in the pants"; hard on the legs I mean, especially when wet. It appears the last half mile before the ridge was hit hard by last nights storm. Some of the soil was washed away from around several steps and the last 20 feet or so before the ridge looked like a mud slide. We reached the summit of East Peak and were amazed at the fantastic views, of trees. The chimney between East Peak and Mt. Osceola looks pretty intimidating from 30 feet away but it's not too bad once you regain consciousness and start climbing it. We reached the summit of Osceola in 3 hours 15 min. and were greeted by the rest of our group. Visibility to the northeast was about 10-20 miles due to low clouds but that's better than 10-20 feet. The return trip was challengingly slippery, but uneventful. Total time 6 hours 15 minutes.
Sunday, May 16th
Trails(s) Hiked:
Greeley Ponds Trail and Mt. Osceola Trail
Total Distance:
7.6 miles (about 3100' elev. gain)
Difficulty:
Strenuous
Conditions:
Very Wet, thunderstorms the previous night
Special Required Equipment:
Common sense and good foot placement
Trip Report:
The beginning:
This morning 9 of us headed north to hike Mt. Osceola from Tripoli Rd. 3 of us arrived at the gated west end (of tripoli Rd.) about 2 miles from I-93(exit 31). We got on the cell phone to find out where the rest of our group was and discovered that they had come in from the east through Waterville Valley and were only about 1.5 miles from the Mt. Osceola trail. They decided they didn't want to wait for us to drive around and were going to start hiking. We decided we weren't walking 5 miles to the trail head, so I told them we would find another way and meet them at the top. As we headed for the Greeley Ponds trailhead I prayed the others were slow hikers.
The hike:
The Greeley Ponds trail was a little muddy in places, but the mud never touched anything but soles of my boots. Strategically placed rocks in the brooks made all water crossing relatively easy.
Ascending the East Peak via the Mt. Osceola trail: What can I say, the upper 1.5 miles of this trail is a real "kick in the pants"; hard on the legs I mean, especially when wet. It appears the last half mile before the ridge was hit hard by last nights storm. Some of the soil was washed away from around several steps and the last 20 feet or so before the ridge looked like a mud slide. We reached the summit of East Peak and were amazed at the fantastic views, of trees. The chimney between East Peak and Mt. Osceola looks pretty intimidating from 30 feet away but it's not too bad once you regain consciousness and start climbing it. We reached the summit of Osceola in 3 hours 15 min. and were greeted by the rest of our group. Visibility to the northeast was about 10-20 miles due to low clouds but that's better than 10-20 feet. The return trip was challengingly slippery, but uneventful. Total time 6 hours 15 minutes.
