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3 months to the day I have not hiked. It’s been a long, frustrating journey. Weird work schedules, health issues in the family, struggling to get firewood in. Every time I got myself psyched up and planned a hike, something would come up, leaving me, well, crushed. I had finally given up on hiking, but eventually things improved, and I made a last minute decision to do a short hike on Sunday. And it actually happened.
What can I say about Osceola? A ton of people have hiked it, probably most everyone’s at least read a TR, it’s an easy, short hike. In fact, it was blessedly easy. No steep parts in the least. It’s as if whoever laid out the Mt. Osceola Trail thought to themselves, “Hmmm, someday a hiker who hasn’t hiked in 3 months will need something easy and pleasant, probably some guy named Salty. Let’s do this right.” Thanks for thinking of me trail builder dude.
I felt surprisingly good today, making it up in 1 ¾ hours with only a handful of 3 minute or so breaks. I so desperately needed this. I went (what I thought) was slow and steady, and just had a pleasant time of it. I really didn’t want to hit a 4k, only for the crowd factor. The short distance and the closeness made the decision final, however, and I’ve tried twice to get to Osceola from E. Osceola. So what does one do when a trail beats you down? That’s right, take another trail. Indeed the lot was nearly full on Tripoli Rd., but I ran into no one on the trail, and only one gentleman on top, followed about 15 minutes by a group I saw getting ready at the bottom.
The views were quite grand, not as spectacular as some, but definitely grand. The north view takes in a great expanse including the Franconia Range, Owl’s Head, the Hitchcocks, Huntingtons and Hancocks, S. Twin, the Bonds, Carrigain and the Presi’s (socked in).
The Southerly view has a great view of the south face of Osceola, Chocorua, Stairs and Resolution, the Wildcats, I think, Tecumseh, and Sandwich. And a wicked view of the steep southern side of the ridge between the main and east peaks.
The trip down took about 1 ¼ hours, slowed because of the numerous boulders and rocks and my aversion to leaving some teeth on the trail as souvenirs. By then there was a steady stream of people coming up, reminiscent of Monadnock. I was getting tired of saying “Hi” every minute or so, but at point one guy is staring at me and I’m staring at him, and we both realized we knew each other (even though it’s only online). It was Joe, jdr6453. A really pleasant surprise to run into him and finally meet him in person.
The trail was mostly dry, a little moist in some places, and some 1-2" puddles near the top.
So there it is, my shortest and possibly most positive TR ever. I’m sure I’ll be back to normal soon!
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