| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Osceola, East Osceola, NH |
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 | Trails: |
FR203, bushwhack, roads, Mt. Osceola Trail, Greeley Ponds Trail, Livermore Road, Tripoli Road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Tripoli Rd is open as is the gate to Osceola Vista Campground. If you park inside it, it would appear you need to pay their $5 fee regardless as to whether or not you have a FS pass. We didn’t get fined but found notes on our cars. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Crossing of Mad River on Greeley Ponds Trail was readily rock hopable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I believe there were some blowdowns on Mount Osceola Trail along the ridge and headed down East Peak.. Probably some on Greeley Ponds Trail too. I don’t think the trail is blazed coming up from Tripoli Rd. Infrequent and very old blazes along the ridge. Newer and slightly more frequent blazes coming down from East Peak. All easy to follow though. Greeley Ponds Trail is also blazed in yellow. Easy to follow especially as it follows roads a lot but not blazed frequently. Make sure not to get it confused with the blue Diamond marked ski trails that intersect with it near the ponds and on the north side of the trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Slide and bushwhack would not be appropriate for most dogs. The trail between middle and main peaks may be too much for them as well with the chimney (the bypass is also fairly sketchy). |
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 | Bugs: |
Surprisingly, they weren’t bad! Must’ve been the cooler temps. About halfway through our day, we began to notice them when we stopped and they were a slight annoyance but nothing compared to the horrors I’ve encountered on other recent hikes. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
When the Old Man and the Saw wants to go hiking with you, let alone a bushwhack, let alone a bushwhack that includes an abandoned trail AND a slide, you drop whatever silly little list you’re working on and GO!! A fantastic day outdoors with cool temps and sunny skies with a good friend :)
We made our way up what’s shown on Gaia as FR203. Locally, it’s signed as the “Upper Osceola” ski trail. Wr followed it to its end at a picnic table. From the picnic table and clearing we entered the woods at the back left corner and ascended along the east side of the brook headed NW for 0.1mi. We then turned N and followed a ridge for about 1/3mi before turning left (due west) and descending to cross the brook in 0.1mi. Once on the other side of the brook we ascended north just above the brook and on the west of it. The woods were open hardwoods down low where we entered them and stayed this way for awhile. They eventually transitioned and got a bit tighter perhaps but we never noticed as we found old roads to ascend along. Good going! The last road dumped us right out onto the slide.
I think this slide may have another name on a well-known bloggers site though I don’t recall it, so I’ll be boring and refer to it as SE slide on Osceola. We walked along the drainage very briefly before coming to the base of the slide. The short walk in the drainage wasn’t too sketchy for once which was appreciated. Transitioning to the slide though, there was of course a nice steep, wet ledge waiting for us. We went into the woods to the right (remnants of an old slide here) to get around it, then cut across the top of this wet slab to the base of a very gravely portion of the slide. Took a break here, enjoying our views to Sandwich Dome and Lost Pass before continuing up.
Made our way up this gravely portion of the slide which was good going. Relatively stable for a slide so we weren’t too worried about kicking rocks down on each other ;) From the top of this, it was a mix of hiking on slab and scree to the top. More of the former than the latter. At the top of the large gravel section there was a good deal of wet slab but one clear dry section though very steep. We made our way up this very steep but dry slab, Bear walking at times to have 4 points on contact on it. From there, we picked and chose our way over gravel and slab to near the top of the slide. Overall, the slide was probably on the average side or just on the easier side of average compared to other slides on the Whites that are ascended. Probably not a bad one for beginners since the whack to it is also pretty easy. The top of the slide was slab and not wicked steep but had some black moss over it that made it look a little sketchy.
We chose to enter the woods to the left here just before the true top and headed just north of west to hit the ridge that the abandoned Osceola Trail used to follow. Thick spruce here but we managed. Nothing worse than what we were prepared for. Encountered many blowdowns but no blowdown patches in here. Got a bit better once we were truly on the ridge around 3700ft. We followed the ridge north, looking for hints of the abandoned footbed to the trail. We felt like we found the ancient footbed after a ways. Found one piece of pink flagging on the ground too before coming under the boulders that the trail is above. Had to work around here.
Hit the trail at the first switchback at about 3800ft. The trail go the summit was as it usually is. Wet ledge but not too slick or muddy. Nice chatting with Mike at the summit ledge. We followed the PITA ridge over to East Peak resisting the urge to make the horrifically thick trek to Split Cliff again. The trail was less muddy than I would’ve expected along the ridge where there’s usually some deep mud pits. The mud pits were large but not wicked soft/deep as they usually seem to be. From east peak, we descended roughly halfway toward Greeley Ponds.
At 3050ft, where the trail turned left we continued straight over some debris on the abandoned section of Mt Osceola Trail to descend to between the ponds. I’d heard that this was still used frequently enough by skiers and Larry had been on it just a few years before but it seems to no longer be followable at times. We encountered MANY blowdowns descending along this. Footbed and/or corridor was often still quite followable for a ways but we eventually lost it in the brush almost immediately after crossing a small drainage that feeds into the main one and just whacked down (perhaps the old trail didn’t cross this small drainage but I thought I was on it when we crossed). Not very nice woods but easy navigationally as you just follow the drainage/slide down to between the ponds.
It was then a long walk out Greeley Ponds Trail, Livermore Rd, and Tripoli Rd back to our cars. Minimal water standing/running on/through Greeley Ponds Trail along the drainages that feed it and the usual mud. The hike was about 10mi with 3050ft of gain according to Gaia. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-05-26 |
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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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