Mt. Osceola - 6/7/22
4340 feet - 6.4 mi
Due to certain aspects of my life (grad school and a baby, mostly) it had been almost 2 years since my last 4000-footer, so in April my dad and I planned well ahead to take a weeekday off and go try to bag another. Mt. Osceola is almost literally right across the street from Mt. Tecumseh and, unlike to the other 4000-footer's I've done, is supposed to have excellent views. We debated also doing East Osceola, another 4000-footer on the same ridge, but my dad felt it would be too much for his old bones. The trail out to the east peak is also very rugged and steep, and I wasn't sure my dog could handle it and I wanted to bring her. So on a weekday in June, we met up at the Osceola trailhead. There was only one other car in the little lot when we arrived, despite it being nearly 9am, much later than we usually start. A benefit of going on a weekday, I suppose.
The first section of the hike was relatively easy. Rocky, but only a mild slope, for the first half mile or so before trail smooths out for a while. The hiking was relatively easy and all members of the party handled it well. We were just glad to be back out in the woods for the most part. My dad was lamenting the fact that he didn't get a warmup hike in and Lana was just happy to be there.
After some gradual climbing, there is a small hairpin turn and the trail gets a bit steeper and rockier. An encouraging message was scribbled on a step built into the trail. Personally I think they should have saved that for a bit farther along.
The trail remained relatively uninteresting for a while. Steady, rocky climbing, indistinguishable from many mountains in the Whites. My dad was playing with his GPS device, watching our path follow the trail on the little screen. Every time we reached another little switchback, he reveled in showing me how precisely it tracked our location. He also would ocasionally pull out a paper map and compass, do a little orienteering, and then put it away. He is pretty good at that stuff, but it was wholly unnecessary for wayfinding here, since the trail, though unmarked, is extremely obvious since there is just no other way to go at any point. It was also through here that, through the trees, we got the first hint of the views from the summit. 
After a few more little switchbacks, we reached once might call a stream crossing, though it was more like a small waterfall. A trickle of water flowed down from ledges to the left, across the trail, and then into a ravine on the right. We stopped one more time here to water the dog and ourselves before we started on the remainder of the hike. What came next was a series of switchbacks up the steepest part of the mountain. Here the trail consisted of lots of sloped granite slabs, sometimes with trickles of water flowing across them to make it slippery. While it wasn't particularly difficult or scary, it was the hardest part of the hike so far.
Finally, after the switchbacks, the slope reduces considerably as you traverse across what is known as Breadtray Ridge to the summit. This final leg was easy going, though still rocky. We quickly reached the summit and took in the expansive view, one many place among the best in the Whites. Personally I woudln't say that, but it was nice nonetheless. I suspect in the fall or winter it would be much more impressive.
We took a break to snack, drink some water, and snap a few pictures. It wasn't in our plan to go to the East Osceola summit, but we were both feeling pretty good so we decided to head down the trail a bit to check it out. It quickly became extremely steep and rocky, and my dad decided he didn't have the energy for it. I didn't think it would be good for Lana either. I tossed out the idea of leaving the two of them at the main summit while I popped over and back since it was only 2 miles total, but it was clear it would be a grueling 2 miles and we decided against splitting up. We hiked back up to the main summit and headed down the trail the way we'd come in.
The trip down was largely uneventful. As usual, by this time we were starting to wear out, and my dad mentioned multiple times how glad he was that he didn't try to bag two peaks. Lana was beginning to drag too, and when we stopped for water about 2/3rds of the way down, she flopped on the ground in the middle of the trail for a breather. I gave her some food and she ate like she hadn't eaten in weeks.
As we approached the end, we kept thinking we were closer than we actually were, and every turn the trail took we expected to see the parking lot. Every time there was a big step down or a log to jump over, Lana would look at me with a mixture of exhaustion and disappointment, as if to ask me why I was putting her through this. Clearly a nearly 7-mile hike was too much for her to jump back in with. When we did finally make it back to the trailhead, she immediately flopped down once again, in the shade of our car. I put out her water bowl again and let her chill out for awhile as we got our packs in the car and prepared to leave.
