I was feeling good with my progress so far and before the winter was out I wanted to go after another easy peak in a single day push. It would also be good to explore outside the Notch and see new terrain. Osceola seemed to fit the bill.

The Osceola ridge traverses four distinct high points but a full traverse didn’t seem feasible for me in Winter. My goal would be to gain the West peak with the option of continuing the traverse or returning based on my pace and conditions.

West Peak of Osceola, 9 hr, 7 mi, 2600 ft ascent

Parking along Rt. 112 I would take the East Pond Trail to the col between Scaur and Osceola then continue bushwhacking along the ridge to gain the West peak.

The trail to the col was lightly packed and offered a couple majestic moments, timeless scenes of winter, frozen and remote. I made this climb to A in my base layer with sleeves rolled up. Dumping in the work, I was literally steaming as I arrived.

I took a moment to dry out while having a drink and snack. So far so good! I put my shell back on and pointed myself up the ridge. Moving along with the aid of a GPS track for quick navigation, the initial section of the ridge was moderately steep unconsolidated snow. I tackled this by trail breaking in gaiters, at times pulling myself up on trees and stamping out steps to advance.

Bushwhacking across Osceola

The ridge traverse went on for a while until I finally made my way up the summit knob. The West peak of Osceola is surrounded by a cliff band, complicating navigation, and based on my pace to this point I decided the smart choice would be to enjoy the view and simply return the route I came.

View From the West Peak of Osceola

I must have been veering right as I followed the ridge back to the col and I noticed an interesting looking, broad, tree-less area. Moving in that direction, I quickly realized that this was the steep drainage at B. The idea of more interesting terrain and avoiding further bushwhacking was appealing.

This was my first real encounter with a sizable snow slope and while I was avalanche aware at the time, I was not as keen an observer as I am today. I made the decision to descend the gully alone with poles and crampons. Looking back I would likely make the same decision today, but with better reasoning behind it.

Top of a Drainage into Pine Brook

Snow conditions were firm and I tried to stick to the walls of the gully as I made my way down. The descent was a blast and I focused on trying to find the best line, carefully down climbing some small ice bulges along the way.

As I reached lower elevations the snow began to soften and it was time to bushwhack West until intersecting the East Pond trail. Dusk was starting to set in as I joined the trail so it felt good to be on track and headed out after such a cool experience.