February 14, 2009
Today I'm co-leading an AMC hike with Becca Munroe to the Osceolas. I stopped along the Kancamagus Highway to get this shot of the peaks we would be climbing today.
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This hike was originally headed up by Ed Hawkins. With Ed's injury back on January 1st, he left the reigns in the very capable hands of Becca.
"We'll probably still see Ed today," said Becca. "He's leading a non-AMC hike to the Osceolas today."
Ed leads by example. He's doing great but not 100% yet. He's not carrying a full pack yet. He later said that he was breaking the rules a little bit so he figured he shouldn't come on the AMC hike.
Nine of us left the parking lot a few minutes after 8:00. Besides Becca and myself there was Ron, Catherine, Vinnie, Bill, Bob, Dave, and Dexter.
"Will you be hiking a second hike today," Ron asked me.
He follows my journal and has noticed that on a short hike such as today I often go on another hike afterwards.
"I was thinking about Cannon, but probably not. After all, it is Valentine's Day," I said.
My wife is sweet enough to let me hike every day on this long weekend. I could at least get home at a decent hour on Valentine's Day.
The 1st 1+ mile flew by. We took a quick break at the trail junction
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Catherine and her dad, Ron.
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"How's everyone feel?" asked Becca.
"Great," everyone said in unison.
"That's about to change," Becca said while laughing.
She was right. Now for the tough part of the hike, heading up East Osceola. Taking a quick break to adjust layers.
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We gave our snowshoes a try for a while but it quickly became apparent that we needed our crampons. Up, up, up we went until we reached our first of many viewpoints today.
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This was the perfect hike for today's weather. It was very windy, so we didn't want to be above treeline, but with mostly sunny skies, it was great to be on a hike with so many views.
Once we reached the top of the steeps we had a great view of Osceola
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View to the southwest
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A few minutes later, we reached the summit of East Osceola. Here's Dave on the summit.
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"Your name has the same first letter as Ed's name. You can give out handshakes," Becca said to me.
I gave out a round of "well done" handshakes in Ed's place.
This was winter peak #43 for me (any winter) and #35 for this winter.
One peak down, one to go. Actually I guess it's two peaks to go since we would be returning over East Osceola.
We headed down into the col and then up toward Osceola.
We had another great viewpoint.
For a video clip click here.
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One more push and we were on the summit of Osceola. Here's a look back at East Osceola.
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View of the Tripyramids
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It's tough to tell where the highest point is on this mountain. Our group went over to what we thought was the highest point and I gave out "well done" handshakes again. I got a little carried away and shook hands with someone who wasn't from our group. I asked someone in our group to take my picture. I forget who now, but I think it was Dave.
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This was winter peak #44 for me (any winter) and #36 for this winter.
A few minutes later we were joined by Ed Hawkins, Jim Towle, and Key-hee (sp??). I had never been on this summit with Ed before so I followed him over to the summit to get a handshake.
"You can stand there if you want," said Ed, "but I think it is higher over here."
It's been a few months since I got a handshake from Ed on a new summit. That was #39.
Ed and company join us on the summit - photo courtesy of Dexter
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Dexter on the summit - photo courtesy of Dexter
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To see more of Dexter's photos from the day click here.
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We returned over the same route. When we got back to East Osceola, I made sure to get handshake #40 from Ed. Down, down, down we went to the trail junction and then the easy walk out. I forget what time we finished. I think about 3:00. Thanks Becca for coordinating this hike. And thanks everyone for coming!
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