East Osceola & Mount Osceola

Date: 8/21/2020

East Osceola Elevation: 4,156’

Osceola Elevation: 4,340’

Miles: 7.6 miles

Time: 5 hours, 13 minutes

Trails: Greeley Pond to Mount Osceola and back

My last weekday hike of the summer </3

Sad!!

As I told Swags on our hike, these hikes have been really invaluable ways for me to stop working and get off my computer/phone and out of the house. Not that that won’t be the case on weekends as I start my new full-time job, but there’s something about going mid-week when the trails are almost empty that feels really special. To be able to spend so much practically-uninterrupted time with my closest friends is something I really treasure.

So it was fitting to go on this last weekday hike with Swags, someone whose path has intertwined with mine almost every step throughout my life. Which makes sense since we’re cousins! ;) But fitting because there is always so much to ~unpack~ with Swags so having all that time together without many other people on the trail was really nice.

Our original plan was to hike Mount Garfield on Friday, but when we woke up at 5:45am and checked the weather there was a chance of rain at 11am and then possible storms later in the afternoon. Even though we would likely be off the mountain by the time the storms came in, we decided we didn't take the chance and looked for another hike further south of comparable length to avoid the rain. I came to the Osceolas, a pair of mountains that I had been saving since I had read about how amazing the views were, especially for the amount of effort you have to put in. I think it was a lot better to enjoy them as a weekday hike and being with Swags seems like a good enough occasion as any!

So off we went to the Greely Pond trailhead, which is actually just before the Hancocks where I hiked last week. Swags was coming off a hike of Cannon earlier in the week, so she had her Whites’ legs under her :)

I remembered my boots this time, so we didn’t have to stop in Lincoln on the way, BUT I did find out that Swags was roommates with the Lahout’s daughter at St. Paul’s ASP—as in Lahout’s Ski and Snowboard shop where I got my boots last week. Fun connection! With everything packed, we were on the trail at 8:25am after getting to the tiny parking lot. Consulting the different books and websites, we found that there was a different trail up to Osceola from Tripoli Road (Mount Osceola Trail) rather than the Kanc, but we went with Greely Pond because one website said it was easier…it was wrong.

After an easy 1.3 miles on Greely Pond (29 minutes), you split with Mount Osceola Trail to head towards East Osceola for 1.5 miles. After a steady climb, it starts to get really steep—flashbacks to the Hancocks last week. We were huffin’ n’ puffin’ for sure. There’s a half hour section that was kicking my butt, but it’s kind of an expected part of a hike in the Whites at this point. It flattens out for a stretch before you reach East Osceola, making us think that the summit was just around the corner at every turn when it most definitely was not.

But after about an hour on the Mt. Osceola Trail, we came to East Osceola (just before 10am), which was another one of those cairns in the woods. All good though because the views were waiting for us at Mount Osceola. After a quick snack break, we headed onwards to Mount Osceola, which is a mile further. This was a pretty easy section, with one 20ft obstacle dubbed “the chimney”—it’s a pretty vertical rock climb, but honestly it looks more daunting than it is. There are lots of foot holds, and we easily scrambled up.

Soon the trail spit us out and we were met with an incredible vista. The guidebooks and websites didn't lie! These were some of the best views I’ve seen so far from a summit. Check it outtttt:

I was surprised by the number of people up there since we had hardly seen anyone on our hike there. But, like I said, the hike up from Tripoli Road is apparently much easier than what we had done, and when you accompany that with the amazing views and good weather, you get a family-friendly hike. It was also a Friday and usually I hike between Monday-Thursday, so that could have added to the small crowd.

Luckily, Mount Osceola has a pretty large summit so we found an empty ledge to soak in the views and sat down to eat lunch. Peak #20 for me!!

By now the storm forecast had been pushed back into the later afternoon as always, so we had gorgeous weather to enjoy. Soon we turned around the way we came and crossed back through East Osceola. We were done at 1:38pm—well under book time :)

Lots of really great conversations with Swags on this hike and I’m so glad to have a friend like her. And, as usual, our paths continue to grow together as we each take the next step in our journeys; we’re both moving to Brookline next month! And after she told me all about the CSA she got while she was in Spain on Fulbright this past year, we decided to get a CSA together in Boston. Very excited for our veggies and hopefully she’ll come on another hike with me too.

It is a little sad to feel like I’m closing this chapter of hiking now that my new job has started and I won’t be able to go to the mountains whenever I want. Hiking has been such a blessing for me this summer for so many reasons (I’ll write a blog about this eventually!) and to move on from my mid-week hikes hurts the heart a bit. But I’m going to keep hiking on weekends and, if anything, I’ll value my trips even more after a full work week :)