The Osceolas Trip Report

I’m back here again, but is it the same Osceola? I was nervous going into it considering last summer’s thunedrous party on the mountain. But instead of rain and lightning, I found an easy trail. The views  were some of the best yet.

It was the same trail as last year: roots and rocks at the bottom, lots of switchbacks, easy grades. Gone, though, was the clouded summit view. In it’s place was a deep and wide view – I saw East Peak, Tripyramid, the Sandwich Range, Tecumseh, and across Waterville to the lakes.

I had the mountain almost to myself. Met some hikers with dogs (how did they make it up the chimney?). The walk between the peaks was short. The chimney was steep and rough. I don’t know how I did it in a thunder storm. The top of the chimney was open to the valley and may have been a ledge. Last summer, I sat here waiting for the storm to break. I was clouded in and didn’t realize that a few feet behind me was just air. The walk up East Peak was a breeze. There’s a fantastic 180-degree view looking north from a rock near the top. I saw the Kinsmans to the Hancocks. Amazing. East Peak’s summit was wooded with a cairn marking the top. The walk back was uneventful.

#24, halfway!!!

Of note

• mostly sunny with clouds moving in, breezy on the summit, low 70s