Outdoor Diversion: Mount Isolation Attempt

Summits: Mount Isolation (4,003')
Trail route: Rocky Branch Trail
Trail conditions: Bare, dry ground to mud, very wet with unstable monorail and deep soft snow
Weather: Cool morning temps warming up with early sunshine to cool gray overcast once past the wilderness boundary then back to sunshine and warm temps on the way out
Total miles: 8
Total time: 6:25

With no recent trail report in the last two weeks for this summit it was going to be a hike into unknown trail conditions. The last report had this summit being a difficult hike with high water crossings and deep snow. But there had been rain and warm temperatures so how bad could it be? I was going to find out along with Jill, Mark, Scott and Lisa.

I was under a time constraint today so I had to be aware of a turn around time. We all met at the Rocky Branch parking lot just before 7:00 AM and were on the trail shortly after that. The first couple of miles toward the height-of-land were not bad but it quickly got ugly.

The trail became completely inundated with flowing water and we barely managed to keep above it by rock hopping with an occasional foot below the surface of the water. Then came deep snow and a rotten monorail with water running underneath it. Any postholing resulted in a foot plunging into the flowing water below. Then there was the wet tree branches we pushing through giving the upper body a good soaking. It was wet! Adding to the tough trail conditions was the weather getting worse. We lost the warm sunshine and it had turned cloudy and cool. It was just a different world up here.

We reached the Rocky Branch only to find it running high and fast. This normally requires crossing five times or one time when going in via the Engine Hill bushwhack which we had already passed. We started to bushwhack up beside the river trying to look for a way across. There was lots of deep snow and lots of postholing. We were very wet. I soon realized I was not going to reach the summit today due to my time constraint. While the rest of the group pushed on I turned back.

I soon lost the footprints and postholes and added some more trying to find my way back. There was no chance of getting lost. I just had to keep the river to my right and was soon back at the Rocky Branch Trail. I met a couple of hikers coming in and let them know that the river was impassable up ahead. Of course the way out was just as wet as the way in. I got past the flowing water and soft snow without any problem. I could not have been any wetter than if I had jumped in the river.

I got back to the point where the trail started to dry out and the sun was shining. I stripped off my wet upper layers and put on a dry one. As I started back down from the height-of-land I met a hiker coming up. He was very surprised to hear about the trail conditions that awaited him up ahead but decided to go on just a little further accepting the fact that he would not reach the summit today. As I continued descending I saw his cell phone on the trail that he had dropped. His friend was waiting below and I gave it to him.

I arrived back at the parking lot and saw the GRIDMAN truck so I knew Jason and Leah were on the trail but didn't know how I had missed them. I found out later they had taken the Engine Hill bushwhack. I also found out that Mark had made the summit but Jill, Scott and Lisa had turned back at the river. I was glad to have been able to hike in with this great group of hikers. I probably would have turned back sooner had they not been there.

This was a very rare hike that I was not able to reach the summit. Given the trail conditions it was not really surprising once I started postholing into deep snow. I knew that if we were able to get across the river there would only be more deep snow making it a very difficult hike to the summit. So I'll consider it a challenging, tough, conditioning hike today and add it to my hiking experiences. Mount Isolation is not going anywhere and we'll hike it again another day.

Enjoy the photos and follow along on the video as I hike out of the Rocky Branch Trail!