Outdoor Diversion: Gridding Out November on Mount Isolation

Summit: Mount Isolation

Trail route: Rocky Branch Trail, Isolation Trail, Davis Path, Iso Express

Trail conditions: Dry trail to start quickly getting into snow, lots of wet sections, mud, and some sections of ice

Weather: Cool with sunshine and blue sky

Total miles: 12

Total time: 9:14

The plan for today was to hike Mount Isolation. This would complete hiking all 4,000 footers in the month of November. I would be hiking with Robin and Jill today. Robin needed Isolation for her Fall four season list and Jill would be gridding out Isolation as well as the month of November.

We started the hike at 7:00 AM with a dusting of snow in the woods. The snow increased to a couple of inches as we reached the height of land. It's along this stretch of the Rocky Branch Trail that it started getting very wet but we were able to skirt beside the water or rock hop without getting our feet wet.

When we arrived at the Engine Hill bushwhack a familiar face came up behind us, it was Adam aka The Teal Goat. I was sure glad to see him because I was initially breaking trail through several inches of snow over mud and he passed us taking over the trail breaking. He also told us about another bushwhack known as the Iso Express to the Davis Path.

There was some deep mud through the first lower section of the Engine Hill bushwhack. I watched a hiker in front of me sink in the mud up to his thigh and had a tough time getting out. We made it through the bushwhack by following the track that Adam was on up ahead of us. Always nice to pass through the birch glades, they were beautiful under sunshine and blue sky today.

We came out onto the Isolation Trail and decided to continue on this trail to the Davis Path rather than take the Iso Express. The Isolation Trail would prove to be quite the challenge today. The further we went up the worse it got. We all managed to make it across the one water crossing with dry feet. The trail then got very wet and icy. We were glad to arrive at the Davis Path that was a better but still had a few muddy spots to get through. We saw Adam coming down from the summit and he said the Iso Express was a better route having recently done Isolation Trail.

We put on microspikes for the final steep ascent to the summit. It was beautiful at the top of Mount Isolation with lots of blue sky and sunshine. The temperature was cool but comfortable and there was no wind. While we were eating the gray jays were very aggressive and constantly "attacked" us in an attempt to take our food. We relented and gave them a few handouts. After some lingering and basking at the top we had to start our return trip.

We descended off the summit and when we reached the top of the Iso Express bushwhack we decided to take it down. About halfway down the bushwhack we decided to take off the microspikes due to snow balling up on them. The path was well tracked and it was one mile down to the river where we crossed. Once again there were no mishaps and we all crossed safely to the other side.

It was then back through the Engine Hill bushwhack that was well tromped down by now. We made it past the mud pits and back on the Rocky Branch Trail for the last three long miles to the parking lot. It was an uneventful descent from the height of land to the trailhead.

Although the weather was favorable the trail conditions were challenging and it was good to have great company for this tough hike today. We were all quite relieved to get this one done and succeeded in meeting our goals for this month. My grid count is now 499/576! This was #11 for me on Mount Isolation and I need it one more time in the month of April to grid it out.

Now on to next month with an ambitious list of hikes that are needed to grid out December.

Enjoy the photos and video!