Mt. Osceola & Mt. East Osceola

On 5/5/12, five of us set out to hike Mt. Osceola and East Osceola. Todays date is July 1st, so I'm a little bit late writing this post, I've been meaning to write it for a long time!

1.3 miles down, 2.5 miles to go.. sounds like nothing, but it was tough!

It started out as a cloudy day and we were all concerned that it was going to rain. Fortunately, the skies opened up and we were given perfect weather to hike in! Starting from the Kancamagus Highway, we took the Greeley Pond Trail to the Mt. Osceola Trail, covering the two peaks in 7.6 miles RT. 

Start of the hike!

This was the first hike of the year where there was no snow left on the trail, which proved to be quite difficult, and although this trip was relatively short in mileage, we struggled. Ill admit it, I absolutely was kicking myself for not spending more time on the stair master at the gym! 

Rocky trail

Guys taking a break!

It was a little confusing when we reached the summit of East Osceola, because we did not see any clear marking saying we were at the top. There was a lookout that we thought was the summit, but another hiker told us it was up the trail a little bit farther. Once we got there, we were a little disappointed because there was hardly any view. At this point, two of our group members decided to turn back (they did a great job!!!), but the remaining three of us wanted to push on to the summit of Osceola. 

View from East Osceola summit

Only one more grueling mile up the trail and we made it to the summit of Osceola. It was wide open and basically a huge ledge. I don't want to know what would happen if someone got too close to the edge (cringe). We rested at the summit for a while and ate our well deserved lunch!

Scary!

Myself at the summit!

The hike back down the trail was difficult as well due to all of the rock scrambles. Proper footing was imperative to prevent injury! I am in desperate need of new hiking boots because mine pretty bald on the sole but I don't want to give them up! They are Merrell's I got years ago and unfortunately they don't make the same boot anymore. I have to be especially careful I don't fall on my face on the descent. So far so good :)

Overall this was a great hike, but challenging. Once we were back at the parking lot, we couldn't wait to get home and head out to celebrate Cinco De Mayo!