It's been about eight and a half years since we had last hiked the Osceolas. We took the Greeley Pond and Mount Osceola trails back then, and would follow the same route this time. It was cold first thing in the morning, but it was supposed to warm up quick, and we expected another day of sunshine and blue skies. We wore snowshoes from the start, and make quick time to the Greeley Pond / Mount Osceola trail junction.
I kind of remembered that climbing East Osceola from the Kanc was steep, but when we got further up the trail, it was steeper than I remembered. The trail looked like plenty of people had slid down it the day before and we were thinking that it seemed like a bad idea.
Getting into the steep stuff on East Osceola
Looking east from the first view spot on the side of East Osceola
The top of the steep section goes through a "chute" with rock on each side, but once you top out of that, the summit is close with only a little moderate climb left. At the top of East Osceola, we stopped at a spot with a little bit of a lookout to the east. We soaked up some sun, and prepared for the wind that we would soon encounter as the descent exposed us on the west side of the ridge.
Fortunately, the wind was more bark than bite, and we were soon in the col, with the chimney right in front of us. I had read various trip reports about which traction devices were appropriate for the chimney and it's bypass (depending on which you wanted to use). The bypass was fine in snowshoes, but the chimney might have been better negotiated with spikes. We continued up the trail, where the wind proved a little more serious as we approached Mt Osceola's summit. When we got to the top, the trees were mostly blocking the wind, providing a nice shelter to enjoy the sun and views.
On the summit of Mt Osceola, looking south at Sandwich Mt and Waterville Valley ski area
Looking north from Mt Osceola
Looking northwest from Mt Osceola
Looking at East Osceola from Mt Osceola
After hanging out on the summit for a bit, we headed back to East Osceola. While the trail wasn't icy, it was hard packed enough to be challenging in snowshoes. At one point I fell and slid for a good distance before I was able to stop myself. The re-climb of East Osceola was quick, and at the summit we decided to switch from snowshoes to spikes for the steep descent toward the Kanc. It was slow going for a bit, but we were able to pick up speed as the trail got more moderate. Back at the Greeley Pond / Mount Osceola trail junction, I put my snowshoes back on to get the weight off my back for the final section of trail. We passed a number of hikers on our way out, and we were a little surprised at how many people were out on a Monday.