| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
East Osceola, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, April 13, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
There was one car in the lot when we arrived at 8:30. Fee area. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction, Traction, Ice Axe |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All waterways were relatively easy to cross. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A couple of fallen trees. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Based on the prior week's postings, it seemed that only microspikes and snowshoes would be necessary, so we left the crampons in the car--BIG MISTAKE. Fresh snow had fallen the night before, and almost all the way to the peak, the trail became very steep. By the tracks in the snow, we could tell that the hikers ahead of us had changed into crampons, but the ascent didn't seem too bad in microspikes. My hiking partner, on the other hand, was wearing Yaktrax, and suggested we turn back just above 3200+ feet.
After switching to my brand new MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes (Women's) for the descent, I fell three times--once into a ditch so deep that my friend had to pull me out by the loop on my backpack. After that, my chivalrous friend offered to switch snowshoes, since his had four teeth in the front and sides and mine only had two. While we struggled to get past the steepest section by bending our knees, leaning forward with a flat back and our hiking poles close in front of us, taking the tiniest steps and only lifting one limb at time, the hikers ahead of us passed us—wearing crampons and carrying ice axes. “You'll be fine,” they said, in response to our concern about getting down safely. After they passed, my companion commented that he would have offered more help than they did—at the very least, he would have hiked down, and hiked back up with a pair of crampons.
We came upon two other pairs of hikers without crampons and warned them; they didn't heed our advice right away, but not long after we got to the Greeley Pond/Mt. Osceola Trail split and stopped for lunch, we saw the first pair coming back down. They agreed that it was too steep to proceed without crampons. As we chatted with them, a group of three young guys came strolling by without traction and we gave them the same warning.
We topped off our harrowing descent with a less taxing stroll around Greeley Pond before celebrating our narrow escape with a beer at Truant's Tavern--a cozy place to celebrate life. LESSON LEARNED: TAKE CRAMPONS EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU WON'T NEED THEM. My friend joked that we are going to take them on our next hike—even if it's in the summer! :)
6.20 miles, 1240+ elevation gain, 5 hrs, 42 minutes. |
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 | Name: |
scaricari |
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 | E-Mail: |
scaricari@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-04-18 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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