Rocky Branch trail stream crossings

[Amy]

Hi. Later this week I plan to take the Rocky Branch trail from 16 to Mt. Isolation (never taken this route before). With the recent rain, what can I expect for stream crossings? Will they be do-able? If there's any doubt I'll take the Glen Boulder (?) trail, but that would be a far second choice.

Thanks for any input or advice!

 

[bikehikeskifish]

You can view the river height / flow gauges here:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nh/nwis/uv?site_no=01064500 (for the Saco)
http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=nh (for the entire state, clickable map)

Of course you need to have some idea at what point the crossings become dangerous, relative to the gauges.

Tim

 

[IQuest]

IMO, if you have a day or two without rain before you go the crossings should not be an issue. We were there a few weeks ago and the water was quite low.

Tim- Which guaging station would you use to relate to the Rocky Branch?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Saco (above, 1st link)... Rocky Branch (of the Saco). There is not a really measurable bump in the flow rate over the last week. Looking back to ~9/20, there was a huge (10X) spike:

(NOTE: This is a graph of the last 31 days, which will be out-of-date relative to this discussion for anyone reading this thread weeks, months, or years later.)

Currently, it is at the 84th percentile, which is above normal for this time of year, but not necessarily above the safe crossing threshold.

(NOTE #2 - I often record the graphs for my TRs/records and use them for future reference. I don't have record of a difficult crossing to compare this one to.)

Tim

 

[MadRiver]

I’ve done Isolation via the Rocky Branch too numerous to count and I’ve only done it once where it wasn’t a slop feast of mud and water everywhere. Even with the Engine Hill bushwhack it is still a mess. My next trip will simply be an out and back from Glen Boulder. Or I wait for ten feet of snow!

 

[IQuest]

Thanks Tim. I will have to record the discharge before and after my next trip through there to have an idea of what the numbers will look like on the water. That is what I have done for hiking Owl's Head (East Branch of the Pemi in Lincoln) and anything that involves the Wild River (Wild River in Gilead, ME). I know that the numbers don't relfect the actual volume of crossings that I inqure about but it's all relative.

FWIW- I actually enjoy an out and back along the Rocky Branch/Isolation Tr and all of it's crossings. If there were no mud then I wouln't appreciate the dry trails.

 

[Amy]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. Mud doesn't bother me. My feet manage to find mud on the driest days on the driest trails, so that's unavoidable. My biggest problem is getting across streams. Short legs and a refusal to use hiking poles makes rock-hopping difficult....but from the sounds of it, this shouldn't be too bad? Unless it's pouring on Friday I think I'm going to try it.

Thanks!