Pierce & Isolation... hows this look

Hey Guys,

Hey. I'm trying to knock off the rest of my 4k's with as many backpacking trips as possible. Soooooooo I'm looking for some advice on getting to Isolation from Pierce, or vis versa. Hows this sound:

Day 1

Crawford Notch to Mount Pierce, Mount Pierce to Dry River Shelter #3.

Day 2

Dry River Shelter #3 to Mount Isolation, Mount Isolation to Route 16

Is this a good route to take or should I reverse it? How is the water level? I assume its a little high, but should I plan on bringing along my rowboat? Thanks.

~ Marshie McMello

[music to RoadRunner cartoon]
Dry River...
if it catches you, you're through....

Dry River Trail: the Bermuda Triangle of the Whites

Don't plan on keeping your feet dry. There are a lot of water crossings from the bottom of Dry River Cutoff to Mt. Isolation West. I am talking waist-high fords, even in non-rainy conditions. Also, if you plan on hiking back to 302 via the Dry River Trail, the suspension bridge may be out. They are replacing it later this month. What trails do you intend to use? How many nights do you plan to be out? Bring a compass and a good map. Actually, bring several different maps, because all maps are not correct.

"Dry" River--Oxymoronic or what?

Whenever this area comes up in posts it seems to fill quickly with somber warnings about the non-dryness of the Dry River.

Is this the most oxymoronic name we have in the Whites?

Marshie said:

Is this a good route to take or should I reverse it? How is the water level? I assume its a little high, but should I plan on bringing along my rowboat? Thanks.

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I have always managed to get across the Dry River crossings dry in my 3 trips there, obviously I pick drier weather than some of these other folks. To quote the famous C.Dripso, "It's not fair to say it always rains when I hike, I'm just buying this snorkel because sometimes the trails get a little deep."

Both the Dry River and Rocky Branch legs of this trip can get wet, so I would avoid this trip for a few days after a rain. But it is certainly doable if that's what you want.

A hiker drowned trying to cross the Dry River in 1971. The crossings are not to be taken lightly...

Some info at http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/surviving.php.

There seems to be more at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...q="betsy+roberts"+"dry+river"+drowned&spell=1 but I can't reach them at the moment due to some network problems...

Doug

DougPaul said:

A hiker drowned trying to cross the Dry River in 1971. The crossings are not to be taken lightly...

Some info at http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/surviving.php.

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You know, I never took a look at that page on the MWO web site -- pretty interesting (and sobering) stuff. Yikes!

Sobering, indeed. Especially given that I crossed it waist-high over the weekend. I suppose I took the normal precautions, other than not crossing at all.

FWIW: I crossed with someone, used trekking poles, undid my pack's hip belt and sternum strap, faced upstream, wore my boots, and tried to keep at least three points of contact on the streambed- difficult because it was very slippery in places.

DougPaul said:

A hiker drowned trying to cross the Dry River in 1971. The crossings are not to be taken lightly...

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According to the notes the river was at flood stage with a hurricane watch posted, not a good time to cross any stream

There are many ways to die in the White Mtns, and many people have died there, so all hikers should be careful. The Dry River is in a steep-sided valley so the river will rise more quickly after rain than in more moderate terrain. A lot of snow blows off the Presidentials into that valley so spring flows can be enormous. I once did a canoe trip on the way upper Saco starting somewhere below Ethan Pond Trail and deliberately selected high water to make that section runnable, and where the Dry River came in the volume that day nearly doubled from all the high snowmelt - note that I wasn't hiking Dry River Trail that day!

Yes, it's funny that Dry River and Little River have some of the worst reputations among hikers (although that may change as the Pemi becomes unbridged). But the particular trip proposed in the base note crosses Dry River high up (maybe 3/4 of the watershed is below the crossings he proposes) so it won't be as fearsome as it might be.

RoySwkr said:

Yes, it's funny that Dry River and Little River have some of the worst reputations among hikers (although that may change as the Pemi becomes unbridged). But the particular trip proposed in the base note crosses Dry River high up (maybe 3/4 of the watershed is below the crossings he proposes) so it won't be as fearsome as it might be.

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The report mentions someone going back to Mizpah Hut for help so the accident could have happened at either the Mt Clinton Tr crossing or the Mt Eisenhower Tr crossing.

The OP doesn't say which crossing he hopes to use--either the Mt Eisenhower Tr or the Isolation Tr crossings would be reasonable given his plan description.

Any of the three crossings can be difficult in high water. (And, of course, there is the fourth crossing until the suspension bridge is repaired/replaced.)

Doug

Your going to be breaking one of my cardinal rules of the backcountry, NEVER descend into possible hazards ie. water crossings, you should reverse this trip and if you can cross the dry river, your homefree, thus eliminating the possibility of not being able to cross the river on your descent and having to either dangerously ford it or go back up and out.

sierra said:

Your going to be breaking one of my cardinal rules of the backcountry, NEVER descend into possible hazards ie. water crossings, you should reverse this trip and if you can cross the dry river, your homefree, thus eliminating the possibility of not being able to cross the river on your descent and having to either dangerously ford it or go back up and out.

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Seems like you're a lot worse off if you reverse the trip and the Dry River is uncrossable, you have a lot farther to go back (assuming that Rocky Branch is that much easier). Or will you risk arrest at the suspension bridge?

I suppose that if you insist on climbing Isolation in high water, you could circle from Pierce to Boott Spur and camp at site near Isolation col, then go out Glen Boulder - not too many crossings on that route.

i crossed at the eisenhower trail a few weeks ago after a few days of moderate rain and crossed safely getting boots wet. getting to the center of the river from the west was easy as at that crossing the strongest currents funnel to the east side. the second part of the crossing has, for me, always involved stepping in water even at low levels. if it was really running this would be a dangerous spot. not a river i would mess with in high water.
on the rocky branch approach to/from rt. 16 you can easily bypass (with easy bushwacks) all but the northern most crossing on the isolation trail which makes a big difference. i've usually found a decent spot a little way upstream even when the crossing at the trail and the lower crossings would require wading. mind you this recent wet weather seems to really have everything running dangerously high.
i'd wait for things to dry out a little bit and then go for some variation of the hike you've mentioned. if nothing else some of those trails in the dry river area will be total mud pits right about now.
take it easy.

bryan