Hiking Mt. Osceola

A few weeks ago my cousin sent me a message asking if she could go on a hike with my aunt and I, which of course I immediately said yes to. It had been a few weeks since my last trip up North and I was itching to get back to the mountains, so her timing was perfect. Though the three of us spent an evening scouring over our maps, we ultimately knew Mt. Osceola was going to be the winner for this trip.  Standing at an awesome 4,314 feet, it’s part of the New Hampshire 4,000 footer club and promised a breathtaking view at the top. It had caught my eye last winter, but when I went to explore the trail head, the gate was locked and a sign read ‘Closed November to May’. A week into May I went back again and the gate remained locked, but now that it was halfway through June, I knew it was truly time to tackle it.

Saturday morning we packed our bags and set out on our adventure. The trail head is located 7 miles down Tripoli Road in the Crawford area, but about a mile and a half in the road turns to dirt. Though it was slow going, as it usually is with little cars on dirt roads, there were plenty of people watching opportunities. Campsites were set up along the sides of the road and I think we all know campers are an interesting bunch (even campers are fascinated by other campers!), so it’s safe to say you won’t be bored during those 7 miles. Though we were warned that parking might be an issue, we were able to finagle our way into a space with the help of a very kind hiker. I was happy to see two port-a-potties in the lot, until I realized they took up two extra parking spots. Honestly, why?! On the plus side, if you park on the road you don’t have to pay the $3 fee! Super thrifty, people.

There’s only one entrance to the trail so it’s extremely hard to get lost, even for me. After we parked, we excitedly pulled our packs on and started our hike! I honestly didn’t know what to expect starting out. The night before, we read a million different reports on the trail, each one depicting an opposing view. When one said it was easy, another said it was hard, and at one point we came across a review that claimed there were some excruciating parts. How does one plan for that? Especially on an 80 degree day? I don’t know, so I just crossed my fingers and went for it.

We started off climbing a gradual, uphill path covered in pointy boulders. Super fun to traverse, not so fun to fall on. The entire way up, the trail was very apparent. There weren’t any trail blazes, which would normally send my Aunt into a tizzy, often leading me to climb up and down steep mountain passes to try and find them, but because there was a steep incline to our left and a steep drop off to our right, there was really no other place we could go. For those of you who are claustrophobic, this trail may feel a little like you’re  a sheep being funneled into a slaughter house, but sometimes you just have to go with it and see what happens. We started our hike around 11:45/12:00pm and honestly it wasn’t very crowded, which was great. One of the best parts of hiking is taking a second to stop and listen to the sound of silence. It’s definitely something I cherish, until a group of teenage boys comes bounding past blasting music from a giant speaker. Who brings a giant speaker on a hike?! It’s safe to say we gave them some time to get far ahead of us. The Grandma in me definitely came out. Such hooligans.

About a third of the way up, the trail turns into switchbacks and the number of pointy boulders lessens, but not by much. A little passed this point, we stopped on the side of the path to take in some water. I turned ever so slightly to change my direction when suddenly I found myself crashing to the ground, butt first. I thought to myself, ‘Of course, out of the thousands of crazy shaped rocks on the trail, I tripped on air’. After I brushed myself off and continued on, we reached the ledges of Osceola. Though they weren’t exposed, they were steep rock faces covered in trickling water. With no other option, I Spider-maned across like a champ! There were about three that we had to contend with and with some effort, I’m happy to say none of us will be haunting those ledges.

Two thirds in it became increasingly apparent that we were approaching treeline. The distant mountains peaked out from behind the foliage and the steep uphill wall beside us began to flatten out. Don’t let this fool you into thinking you’re a few minutes away though! Fifteen minutes into this section I heard, among my group as well as others, the “are we there yet” frustrations forming. For at least 30 minutes it felt like we were about to reach the top, but oh no, it wasn’t so. At least the trail kept our interest with a lot of ups and downs. Of course I yelled PARKOUR every now and then when we had to pull out some cool tricks to maneuver over rocks because, let’s face it, we’re all a little bit Michael Scott, but eventually we saw the light at the end of our trail. The one that shines through the small break in the trees and promises the beauty we worked so hard to achieve.

As soon as we stepped out of the woods, our jaws dropped. The expanse of mountains, not just in depth, but height as well, was glorious. I gazed at the grandeur of the Presidentials like they were my sanctuary. And after spending the winter looking out at a see of barren, brown trees, the life that spring breathed into these mountains was splashed across the vibrant green foliage that lit up the panoramic view. Mt. Osceola stole my heart. This was my cousins first hike, ever, and her reaction was priceless. She stared out into the mountains with a look of awe and wonder, expressing her feelings in ‘ohs’ and ‘wows’. It was truly a magnificent summit.

We sat at the ledge and ate our lunches. It was then that the Gods shined their light down on me and the unthinkable happened: A butterfly landed on my ankle!

It stayed there for as long as I remained seated! Let’s be honest, I was basically Snow White. So I ate my lunch feeling pretty darn majestic, but after 45 minutes of taking in the view, we had to head out. I reluctantly shooed the butterfly away and  we began our descent. It was slow going because it’s easier climbing up giant pointy rocks than it is climbing down them, but we soon learned the importance of keeping a strong pace going. Apparently standing still sent a signal to every single tiny black fly in New Hampshire to come fly into our faces and bother us until we got our butts moving again. That and needing to pee are probably the best incentives to get you off a mountain quicker than normal. So eventually we made it back to the parking lot and ducked into the car, swatting bugs even as we drove back down the dirt road.

I must say, Osceola is now one of my favorites, if not my favorite hike in the White Mountains. The trail kept me entertained throughout its entirety. Traversing the rocks was fun and the pay off was more than I could ever ask for. Sometimes I find myself hiking for the view and having to force myself to appreciate the actual climb to the top, but with Mt. Osceola I enjoyed the trail so much that I forgot about what the summit had to offer, which made the payoff at the top that more intense. I encourage anyone who can, to climb this mountain because trust me, it’s worth it.