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Mt. Osceola Trip Report

By Steve McGreal.

The hike was held on Saturday, September 29, 2007 and we had a total of six individuals who joined us...three Steve's, two Mike's and a Marcus. It was a beautiful fall day in the lower 60's. It started out a little on the cloudy side, but cleared up as the day went on. Originally this hike was posted as an up and back to the two 4000' peaks, but was modified into a loop hike based on a suggestion from Mike B.

After parking a car at the Livermore Road parking area, we met up with everyone at the Mt. Osceola trailhead in the Thornton Gap. The initial portion of the hike was moderate and well-paced and we made it up to the top of Mt. Osceola in very good time, stopping briefly at an overlook on the northside prior to reaching the summit. One of the Steve's turned back early in the hike, as he was having difficulty early on. At the summit we relaxed and took in the views of Waterville Valley and the ski areas just opposite the mountain. The wind at the summit was brisk and chilly, so our time at the summit was limited.

We continued down the northeast side of the mountain and proceeded along the ridge. We came upon the “chimney”, which is a very steep rock cropping, which most of us descended (there was a side trail around this which is less steep). Shortly after this we began the ascent up East Osceola, stopping briefly to take in the views from two open areas. Near the top of East Osceola we enjoyed a break over lunch. There was a limited view over the valley, but this peak is heavily treed.

On the descent from East Osceola there were portions that were very steep with some open “slides” and very nice views into the valley, the Kangamangus area and the Greeley Ponds below.

At the bottom of this we eventually reached the junction with the Greeley Ponds Trail and proceeded south along this rather flat trail on the return to the Livermore Road parking lot. On the way back we passed the two Greeley Ponds where we stopped periodically and took in the views.

The hike was a 9.9 miles instead of the 8.4 miles originally advertised.

Afterwards we went to a store to pick up some food and went over to the GO Center (Mike B's home) and enjoyed a relaxing BBQ.

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