Outdoor Diversion: A Hike to North Isolation and Mount Isolation

Summits: North Isolation (4,293')Mount Isolation (4,003')

Trail route: Glen Boulder Trail, Davis Path, Mt Isolation spur, Isolation Trail, Rocky Branch Trail

Trail conditions: Dry trail, wet trail, muddy sections and couple of insignificant patches of snow

Weather: Cool morning temps with sub-freezing wind chills above treeline, cloudy with periods of sun showing through the cloud cover

Total miles: 13.2

Total time: 9:34

There was rain in the forecast but looked like the northern White Mountains might be spared long enough to get in a hike. I would be joining Jim, Jill, Amy, Robin, Scott and Lisa for this long hike today. Jim, Robin, Scott and Lisa would be completing the New Hampshire Trailwrights 72 list with the bushwhack to North Isolation.

Our hiking route would take us up Glen Boulder Trail and out Rocky Branch Trail. There was a light drizzle falling as I passed the Glen Ellis parking area on my way to a car spot at the Rocky Branch parking area. While the weather forecast did not mention clearing it did indicate the precipitation would be ending. Driving down from the north I was the only one that had a dry drive while the rest of the group drove through rain coming up from the south.

It was a dry start to the hike and the temperature was cool which was nice for the climb up to Glen Boulder. When we emerged from treeline and up onto the exposed ledges there was a cool wind blowing making it quite chilly. There was a low cloud cover but was quickly clearing while wringing out a couple of snow flurries. We made a brief stop at Glen Boulder then continued up.

The trail enters a small forest up on the ridge that I like to refer to as the "oasis". On a windy day it blocks the wind, on a hot day it gives cool shade and it even has a spring just off the trail. Leaving this forest and back onto exposed ridge we were met with a brisk, cold wind. The temperature was 33° making the wind chill sub-freezing.

Before reaching the Davis Path trail junction there were many alpine flowers blooming. After a steady ascent we started our descent on the Davis Path. Our next stop was North Isolation. A check of the GPS and it was a short, branchy bushwhack to the summit. We all barely fit on the mound of a summit amongst a cluster of small trees.

Back on the Davis Path we continued on to Mount Isolation. There was lots of muddy stretches of trail along the way. Up on the summit of Isolation we took a much deserved break. Some of us went searching for the summit pencil marker. As we were leaving the summit Jill took one last look for the marker. She did not find the marker but did find something of interest in the bushes...an 8-foot tall wooden cross! She decided not to carry it down and left it there.

After a long hike in to Mount Isolation via Glen Boulder we started the long 7.2 mile hike out via Rocky Branch. It was a wet and rocky hike with three water crossings, normally five crossings but we skipped two. After the last crossing there was a lot of rock hopping as we made our way out to the trailhead parking lot. The weather had slowly improved over the course of the day and it made the long hike out a little more tolerable.

We all agreed that it was a great day for hiking with the cooler weather making it quite comfortable. This was my ninth time hiking to Mount Isolation with three more times to grid it out. Congratulations to Jim, Robin, Scott and Lisa for completing the Trailwrights 72 list today!