mt osceola near parking lot

mt osceola near parking lot
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Here I'm on the way back to the car, very close to the parking lot. In this area the foliage was still lovely. The rain made the colors very vivid.

Despite all the rain, and some trouble with ice, this was a really cool hike, exhilarating even! Hiking through all the water made me feel like I was being absorbed into the outdoors. I was also glad to bag my third 4000-footer.

The total hike was a distance of 6.4 miles. It took me 4 h and 40 min for a pace of 1.4 mph. Not so bad, given the conditions... The elevation gain is 2050 feet, according to the White Mountain Guide. I will have to go back some day, to cover the section of trail between E Osceola and Mt Osceola.

What a great day! I wonder if I will be able to do any more hiking in the Whites before winter comes in for real?

mt osceola trail stream

mt osceola trail stream
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Here's another shot of the trail doing its imitation of a stream, on the way back down. It had only stopped raining while I was at the summit. All of the accumulated rain and melting ice was flooding the trail even more on the return trip. This meant I got to see some very beautiful waterfalls, some of which I had to cross through as they passed over the trail!

mt osceola summit ice and wind

mt osceola summit ice and wind
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I walked out on the ridge just a little to get a photo... the wind was an incredible force! I just took this shot and went back.

Since everything was covered in ice, I decided not to take a break to eat something at the top - nowhere to comfortably sit! Instead, I immediately began to retrace my steps.

mt osceola summit ice

mt osceola summit ice
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Once I got to the ridge, I was again faced with ice covered rocks. In addition, there was an unbelievable blasting wind coming in to the mountaintop here.

Fortunately, the temperature was well above freezing. so I could stand to walk around a little. But the ice and wind severely limited the exploring that I could do.

mt osceola summit is flooded

mt osceola summit is flooded
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

From the old fire tower footings, I followed the path to a clearing along a ridge. The summit was a strange combination of water and ice. The trail passed through the biggest pools of water I'd encountered so far. They were haflway frozen, with ice slabs standing on top. I could feel ice crunching under my boots as I walked through them.

mt osceola summit covered in ice

mt osceola summit covered in ice
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I approached the summit, the going got more difficult. Sections of the trail here are partially blocked with huge walls of sloping rock that give you little or no room to get by on the flat. There are many areas where you have to set your boots on a sharply sloping rock. And it was just around this area that most of the rocks had accumulated a slippery coating of ice, perhaps a quarter inch thick. Bummer!

Fortunately, it had been raining pretty much nonstop since I started, and there were streams of fresh running water going over the rocks. Wherever the streams rushed, the ice was gone. So I learned to just put my feet very carefully wherever there was running water. This got me most of the way. Very close to the summit I had some difficulty clambering up a few ice covered boulders, but I managed without slipping.

In this photo, I've reached the old fire tower footings at the summit. Here, the rocks were completely covered in ice! Not sure how well that comes through in the photo.

I took off my backpack and set it down here to look around, taking tiny mincing footsteps to avoid falling.

wet trail

wet trail
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Most of the trail was extremely wet - literally running with water, like a stream, or covered in standing pools. By habit, I started out by trying to avoid walking in the water. But I quickly gave up and just went straight through the pools, often stepping into water that covered several inches of my boots. They remained excellently waterproof.

All my gear held up pretty well, actually, except my mittens got completely soaked - and I thought they were waterproof! Also, I continue to have the problem that water drains into my sleeves whenever I raise my hands up. Not sure what to do about that, but I'll have to find some solution. Overall, I stayed reasonably dry and warm despite all the water.

As I approached the summit, I passed the two guys who, I surmised, were heading back to their big black truck. One of them joked "I think I left the keys in the truck!" - guffaw! It appeared that I would soon be the only soul on the mountain... neat!

ice

ice
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I started out on the trail, there was a light rain. The car thermometer read 39 °F, but it felt warmer.

The Mt Osceola trail is pretty gentle for most of the way to the summit. There are a number of switchbacks which make the trail longer, but less steep.

At some point, I'm guessing about halfway up, I started to see bits of branches and red berries, coated in ice, apparently broken off and fallen onto the trail. Of course, I was wondering how much ice I'd find as I continued onward.

mt osceola trailhead

mt osceola trailhead
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I finally made it to Mt Osceola today! This is the trailhead. There were some water droplets on the lens; it was raining lightly when I got there. There was me and a big black truck in the lot, that's all. Nice and quiet - amazing what a little rain will do to clear the trails.

I almost didn't go, but I'm glad I did. It was almighty hard getting up this morning, and as I sat around sipping my tea trying to decide what to do, I had strong misgivings about the potential for ice near the summit. As it turned out, there was ice, but it was manageable.