19 October 2015: Mount Osceola, Mt. East Osceola

Today me and Bishop X ventured out to bag the Osceolas from the trailhead along Tripoli road. It was getting late in the month and we knew we were racing time until snow and frost would mean stopping for the season this far up north.


History: Unclear as to the origin of the name for these peaks - Osceola was a Native American of the Seminole tribes in the southeast US.

Peak Elevation: Osceola - 4340 ft. ; East Osceola - 4156 ft.
Elevation Gain: ~2000 ft.
Trail: Mt. Osceola Tr.
Length: 8.4 mi.
Time on Trail : 0851
Time off Trail: 1500?

This hike was sold to me by Bishop X who said that the Chimney between peaks was a cool experience to hike up. I figured that having survived my slide down the Flume slide trail, that i would be able to handle this steep rock feature without issue.

We began the day on Tripoli Rd and quickly got on trail. It wasn't all that long before the mud turned to frost and "snow". As we neared the summit of Osceola, there was a nice big open ledge offering great views on this clear day. The ledge used to be home to a fire tower, which still had footings present to provide for good places to slide your pack off for photo ops. From there we briskly walked to the summit of Osceola and onward to descend the chimney towards East Osceola. Both peaks having wooded tops, we took in the views where possible. The chimney was ok going down but kind of fun going up. Bishop X gave me some space to get up and down - a smart move in case i slipped. There are a few spots along the way with broken views - the ledges offered the best of all so we made another stop there to fuel up before we descended.

Photos:

Mt Osceola, East Osceola 19OCT15