NH 48 4000 Footers: The Osceolas


September 7, I hiked Osceola and East Osceola, which were my 7th and 8th 4,000 footers. Here are some helpful links I found while researching the hike: 

The Plan

I had originally planned to hike Waumbek and Cabot (NH48 4000 footers) as well as Starr King, Horn and Magalloway (NH 52 With a View) over two days with a short night spent in Pittsburgh NH. A sick pup and some other external factors resulted in a sudden change of plans. After <90 minutes of sleep, I hopped into my car and headed to Osceola Trailhead/Thorton Gap off of Tripoli Road. With the lack of sleep as well as my inability to estimate how long NH hikes will take me (more on this later) I wasn’t really sure how long I’d be on the trail, but I estimated my day would look like this:

  • Trail/Peak Name: Osceola Trail 
  • Intended Route: Osceola Trail off of Tripoli Road to Mount Osceola and East Osceola Mountain.
  • Departure & Return Time/Date:  Day hike for Sept 7, 2018. Leave home around 6 a.m. I hope to return home by 6:00 PM at the latest 
  • Hike Itinerary: I have read that this hike should take 5 to 7 hours. Based on this information and my previous hikes in NH, I am estimating the hike will take me an average of 1 hour per mile, including breaks. 
    • 7:30 a.m.: start hike
    • 11:30 a.m.: Mt. Osceola summit
    • 12:30 p.m.: East Peak summit
    • 1:30 p.m.: Mt. Osceola summit
    • 3:30 p.m.: end hike

If you regularly hike or backpack in the northeast, please join our Facebook group, New England Hiking and Backpacking!
It’s a great place to ask questions and share your photos, trip reports and gear recommendations.


The Outcome

Having spent most of my hiking life in California, I still have not adjusted to constitutes a typical trail in NH. The lack of sleep, the disappointment of needing to cancel my original plans and hiking on the ankle-breaking softball- and basketball-sized rocks (the NH equivalent of talus?) at the beginning of the hike had me questioning why I was even on the trail. Also knowing that I’d have a ton of work waiting for me at home after finishing the hike did not help my mood. I can only really think of one other hike where I seriously considered turning around within the first mile of a hike (San Bernardino Peak, 2011), but I was thinking about it here. 

After pushing through the first hour and 1.75 miles of the hike, my mood improved as I reached Breadtray Ridge. On the ridge I got my first peak of Osceola as well as a nice view of Mt. Tecumseh, which was my first 4000 footer after moving back to NH. The most notable thing about the ridge was the number of downed trees … I am curious if most of them were blown over during a particular weather event or if it’s something that’s just happened over a number of years. 

Spending the previous Monday deathly afraid of slipping and falling (again) I opted by footwear with Vibram soles to ensure good footing as well as using my hiking poles. Unfortunately the shoes are not waterproof, so things got a little interesting as I neared the summit of Mt. Osceola.  

Soon after getting to the bottom of the Chimney, the trail starts to climb again. I knew that I only had a half mile to the summit or so, but this part of the hike seemed to go on forever. When I finally made it to the summit, I was greeted by this friendly pup, another dog and their human. I took a quick summit photo, then headed back to Mount Osceola. 

Arriving at the Chimney, I decided to opt for the Bypass again, but here’s a look at both routes:

Heading back to the summit of Mount Osceola, I was happy to be ascending rather than descending. While it was tiring, I was definitely more sure of my footing hiking the trail in this direction. Once I summited again, I took my longest break of the day. The remainder of the trip back to the trailhead was uneventful and quite enjoyable … at least until the last mile, where I encountered the softball- and basketball-sized ankle-breakers again.  🙄 


NH Hiking Checklist Decals

 

Geek Stats

Mount Osceola and East Osceola Mountain via Osceola Trail || Distance: 7.6 miles || Duration: ~5.5 hrs (including ~20 mins of breaks) || Gain/Loss: ±3261’|| Max Elevation: 4,314′ || Difficulty: Moderate 

Since moving to NH, I’ve had a difficult time estimating how long I’ll need to complete a hike. In CA, I was able to look at the stats for a trail and easily come up with an estimate. I am hoping by tracking the info below over a few hikes, my estimates for NH hikes will be more accurate. 

Split Name Pace Climb
Mile 1 35:56 686
Mile 2 40:31 758
Mile 3 47:38 416
Mile 4 59:07 -251
Mile 5 61:45 206
Mile 6 37:11 -735
Mile 7 37:21 -779
Mile 8 (partial) 31:48 -297
Split Name Mileage Climb
Hour 1 1.6 +1163, -27
Hour 2 1.3 +900, -131
Hour 3 1 +433, -700
Hour 4 .9 +568, -242
Hour 5 1.7 +223, -1440
Hour 6 (extrapolated) 1.7 +120, -1300

Photos

Gear

  • Deuter Airlite 28 – with the large number of packs I’ve been testing and types of hikes I’ve been doing, my Airlite has been sitting in storage for a long time, but this was the perfect opportunity to use it! While I did push the capacity of the pack (I attached a MiniNet so that I could easily carry my rain gear and extra water on the outside of my pack), it performed well. 
  • Trew BeWild – While it did not rain, the jacket worked well as a wind breaker.