East Osceola & Osceola

Greeley Pond & Mt Osceola trails

November 27, 2010


Today we were meeting up with Chris and Wenzel, Mike and Gina, and George. After much negotiation we had settled on a start time of 9:30 so that folks with a long drive wouldn't need to start too early and we'd get our much needed beauty sleep. We arrived at 9:15 to find George, Mike, and Gina already gearing up, with Chris and Wenzel pulling in just after us. The parking lot and a couple of inches of fresh snow and there were some flakes falling on this cloudy day. Winter may be 3 weeks away, but it sure felt like it was already here as we geared up.

The several stream crossings were not frozen over yet, but with the exception of one person not to be named, we crossed with dry feet. We made quick time to the junction of the Mt Osceolas trail where we stopped to drop a layer in preperation for the steeps that follow. As we started up the steeper part of the hike, we stopped again to put on microspikes, which we left on for the deration of the day.

What a pretty hike amongst all the snow covered trees. When we reached the slide where the trail goes across, half the group went high, while the other half went low - about the same level of difficulty for both. 2 inches of snow on top of blue ice. From here one last climb and we were at the view point, where we noticed that the wind had picked up. Wishing to stay warm, we kept moving and in @ 10 minutes were at the summit of East Osceola taking photos.

A quick snack and off we went towards Osceola. Just before we reached the "chimney" we ran into Mike (aka zipit from VFTT) and a friend hiking towards us. As we approached the base of the "chimney" we were greated by hiking poles being tossed down as a group of 7 or 8 inched their way down the icey bypass to the right. Once they were by us, Mike led some us of straight up the ice bulges, while others took the bypass. Together again at the top we pushed on to the summit of Mt Osceola, well to the clearing where the old fire tower once stood. Re-grouping here, we then continued on to the actual summit which is just off the trail in 200 yards of so. Summit photos and a quick bite to eat, and off we went on our return trip to the car.

A little after we reached the Greely Pond trail on our descent, the sky turned very dark as a snow squal come through. With near white out conditions we were quickly reminded that Winter will be here soon! We can't wait!

Directions to Trailhead
Rte 93 north to exit 32, the Kancamagus Highway. Head East through the town of Lincoln and past the Loon Ski area. Continue past Lincoln Woods until you see the marked parking lot on the right (Greeley Ponds). If you reach the hairpin turn you have passed the parking area.

Length of Hike:
5:30 hours
7.6 miles





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