Osceolas on Ice. 3-14-2016

7.6 miles with 3100 feet of elevation gain.
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail

First -- many thanks to Tammy Daugherty and The Lady from New York for each donating $576 to Global Fund for Women through Alex and Sage's Grid fundraiser, and thank you to Samantha Brady, Tom Rankin, Stephen Clapp, Denise Carignan, and Marcy Light for their individual contributions.  If you too would like to donate, then you can read more about the girls' long-term fundraiser here.

Alex's trip report on our Osceola hike can be found here.  The following are my photos from this adventure.

From car to the summit of East Osceola, the trail was pure ice.

Leaving the Greeley Ponds Trail and starting on the Mt. Osceola Trail.
That bump in front of us is not East Osceola...East Osceola is much higher than that.

Sage fixing her Hillsounds Pro crampon...which then broke about three hours later, along with BOTH my own Hillsound Pro crampons...I am not happy about that, this was not the hike for broken traction!

This is basically what the Mt. Osceola Trail looked like all the way up, except often much steeper.

Sage making use of an obliging tree branch

Alex making her way up

View from the slide

The girls carefully making their way across the bottom of the slide.  No ice ax is necessary here...if you fall, you are going to slide about five feet until the trees stop you.

Finished the steep bits, looking toward the main peak of Osceola

Looking at the summit of East Osceola from the top of the last steep bit

Soon there

East Osceola

The bypass to the chimney, which was the only (mostly) ice-free thing we climbed all day.

The actual chimney, which we didn't take

Almost at the main summit

On the main peak of Osceola

Heading back to East Osceola

Back down at the water crossing on Greeley Ponds Trail, after a SLOW descent due to multiple crampons breaking.  

My blood sacrifice to the mountains

This is how each of the Hillsound Pro crampons broke.  Exactly the same place, on BOTH sides of the device.  Not cool.

We hope to hike again next week.  Stay safe, everyone, and check out Alex's trip report if you haven't already.  :)