| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Osceola, East Osceola, NH |
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 | Trails: |
East Pond Trail, bushwhack, Dog Leg Slide, bootleg ski trail, bushwhack, Mt. Osceola Trail, Greeley Ponds Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, July 19, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room at East Pond lot, but Greeley Ponds (as well as Lincoln Woods) lot was overflowing up the highway. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock hoppable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
One deer fly on the slide (won't be down for breakfast). A few mosquitoes on Greeley Ponds Trail. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
For the ascent, we took the East Pond Trail past the brook crossing and continued to a flat area with a big boulder and small spruce. Apparently there's a climbers path in this vicinity, but we didn't look too long for it. Instead, we worked our way to the brook, hitting it where a branch split off, then continued above the west bank for awhile until it opened up a bit.
Once the brook bed widened, we hopped in and went up. It's reasonably wide in part from Irene damage, but the saplings are starting to grow. Pretty smooth sailing though for the first third or so.
The middle third, approaching the actual dog leg turn, had wet/technical slabs, so we hopped back up to the west bank in scrappy woods for awhile, then popped back onto the slide a little above the turn. From there to the top of the slide there was a lot of loose material, but it was doable.
From the very top of the slide, we hopped into the woods, expecting to bushwhack, but then noticed an opening to our left. Sure enough, there was a bootleg ski trail (some current year stumps, many decades-old stumps) which climbed almost all the way to the main view ledge on Osceola. The trail ceased maybe 30 vertical feet from the big ledge. Very busy day on the summit.
The ridge was mostly dry, as was the chimney.
The descent off East Osceola was rougher than I remember pre-Irene (the last time I had been up there without snow) due to continued erosion. The Greeley Ponds Trail, on the other hand, was a bit smoother due to some advanced maintenance done, such as turnpikes and rock waterbars. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-07-19 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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