The Plan

greely ponds parking lot uncrowded
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This is a view of the Greeley Ponds parking lot, with signs pointing the way to Greeley Ponds and Mt Osceola. This shot was taken around 9:30 a.m.

It was incredibly quiet there, which was nice; I guess people were scared off by the threat of rain. In fact it had rained on and off during the drive up, but once I got there, it stopped raining, and didn't start again until noon.

I planned to do one night out in the Whites. I had decided on a loop involving Mt Osceola. I would start at Greeley Ponds trail off the Kancamagus Highway, then follow the Mt Osceola trail over the peaks of East Osceola and Mt Osceola, and then loop back either by East Ponds trail to the north, or Greeley Ponds trail to the south, the following day.

Getting to the summit of Mt Osceola from the Kancamagus Highway sounded steep and difficult, but I figured that it would be better to do that first, while I was still relatively fresh. There was a danger that I might decide to bail at some point, which would mean I'd need to turn around and descend it again. I knew that would be really tough, but decided to risk it.