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| Mt. Osceola Trail-head |
On Sunday, September 23rd, Paloma, my parents, and I set off to hike Mt. Osceola and Mt. Osceola East Peak. The forecast was perfect - a nice cool fall day with blue skies. We wanted to get an early start, so we left Somerville at around 6:15AM and headed up 93 to Tripoli Road. Paloma and I fell asleep halfway through the trip, which was nice because it made it go by extra fast! We made it to the Mt. Osceola Trail-head parking lot at around 8:25AM. I was glad that I had packed some warmer clothes, it was a chilly 50 degrees!
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| Mom Navigating the Wet Trail |
As we began to get ready, we realized that Paloma's bladder was leaking (her Camelback bladder, sicko), so we spent a few extra minutes transferring some of her items to my father and I's backpacks. After taking the standard trail-head photos, we hit the trail at approximately 8:50AM. We were going to do an out-and-back, up the Mt. Osceola trail to the summit of Osceola, across the ridge to the East Peak and back. Two 4k's, a total distance of 8.4 miles.
I had hiked Osceola some years ago, so the beginning of the hike was familiar to me. The trail climbed gradually and was very rocky. I assume that it had rained recently because the trail was saturated and the rocks were slippery, so we had to take extra care. The first few miles went by fairly quickly. The Mt. Osceola Trail is nice in the sense that it never becomes very steep, rather it maintains a decent uphill the entire time to the summit. The wet rocks were really the only challenge we faced (that is until we began to head over to the East Peak).
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| Paloma and I at the Main Summit |
We reached the summit of Mt. Osceola at 11:05AM. It was absolutely beautiful up there. I estimated that the temperature was around 45 degrees at the top, so I ended up wearing my rain jacket. Even though it was early, we decided to sit down to eat our lunch and rest for a bit. To say that the views were beautiful is a gross understatement. They were incredible. We had clear views to the East Peak, Mount Washington, and Waterville Valley ski area. It seemed as though we could see hundreds and hundreds of miles.
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View from the Main Summit
(East Peak to the far right) |
From the summit of Mt. Osceola to the summit of the East Peak is exactly a mile. We set off for the East Peak at 11:35AM. The trail descended gradually for a bit, then all of a sudden it begins to descend drastically. This part was extremely rocky and took some time to get through. On the way we past a couple of guys hiking with a dog - the dog seemed to be taunting us the way he was running up and down the rocks. The two guys informed us that a few hundred feet further was the famous "chimney" that I had read about on the drive up. This "chimney" is certainly not the kind that lets smoke escape from your fire-place, rather this type of "chimney" is an extremely steep (read vertical) cliff like formation that you have to climb down. There was a way around it (which my parents and Paloma took), but no way was I not going to climb down.
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| Summit of Osceola East Peak |
What made the chimney a bit more difficult than it could have been was the fact that it was essentially a tiny waterfall. I had to be sure that I kept my footing as I inched down it. This part was exciting! Once past the "chimney," we were officially in the lowest point between the two summits, and we gradually made our way up to the summit of the East Peak, reaching it at 12:25PM. Unlike the main peak, the East Peak is simply a cairn in the middle of the woods. We took a few photos and headed back down the way we came up, heading towards the summit of Mt. Osceola again and eventually back to the car.
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| Climbing up the Chimney |
One the way back I climbed up the "chimney" which was actually a bit more difficult than climbing down it. The steep rocky part that we had descended on the way towards the East Peak was now in front of us, and to me, was the most difficult part of the entire hike. At 1:25PM we were back on the main summit and decided to sit down for a few more minutes to take in the views. The remainder of the hike down was fairly moderate, though the wet rocks caused us all to slip multiple times. We were lucky to arrive back at our car at 3:45PM with only minor scrapes and bruises.
On the way home we stopped at one of my all-time favorite places - Cracker Barrel - for some home cooked chicken and biscuits. It was "just what the doctor ordered" according to my mother, and I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.
I recommend this hike to everyone. For beginners, hiking to the summit of Mt. Osceola and back would be a nice introductory hike with a fantastic view. For those looking to add on a few more miles and some steeper sections, definitely head to the East Peak.
Hike Stats
Trails: Mt. Osceola Trail
Total Time (Including Breaks): 6:55
Distance: 8.4 Miles
Elevation Gain: 2950'
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