| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Osceola, East Osceola, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Tripoli Road, Mt. Osceola Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, March 10, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Livermore lot, walked the closed Tripoli Rd which was groomed for XC skiing (for the first mile or so). Stick to the sides out of consideration for the integrity of the groomed track. The road walk is 2.9 miles to the Osceola Trail head. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The one 4/10ths in was solid yellow ice |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on the upper part of the trail in the switchbacks section. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Took mine, she had a blast. She’s an experienced hiking dog but she struggled a bit going up a couple of the steep icy sections. She’s only 25 lbs so I gave her a boost. Inexperienced hiking dogs may have more difficulty so be prepared to boost them while also getting yourself up the ice. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a white and black cap - on the upper section of the trail before Mt Osceola - with “Take a Hike” embroidered on it. I will post a pic on the Lost and Found in the White Mountains FB group tomorrow. I left it at the Livermore lot kiosk. |
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 | Comments: |
The trail had been minimally travelled. Looked like once on one of the recent soft/melt days by a booter/spiker. There were not many post holes, it was just very uneven. Not enough that it was ankle twisting all day.
We spiked the road then put snowshoes on at the parking lot. We swapped back to spikes at the frozen water crossing 4/10ths in because the ice was very hard and bumpy and spikes worked better for traction. We left the spikes on the remainder of the hike, except for full crampons between the peaks. Butt sliders on the steeps have created icy luges. The full crampons gave more confidence and traction on the chimney area too. Thank you to the person(s) who wore crampons and stomped in foot holds on some of the steeps. The area before Mt Osceola on the Tripoli side has some knee deep drifting for about a 1/10th of a mile before the summit.
The trail was softer on the descent in the afternoon because of sun exposure but still firm enough to do in spikes without balling up. The only time we postholed was if we got off the center of the track and hit the sides.
Recommend an early start to take advantage of the firmer early day trail. The entire hike round trip from Livermore lot was 13.8 miles, with about 5.8 of that being road walk. Worth it for anyone wishing to avoid the sketchy steeps before East Peak when ascending from Greeley. |
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 | Name: |
thegingerhiker |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-03-10 |
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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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