NH_Mtn_Hiker
New member
This hike would be the first time I had bagged Isolation as a dayhike and it would give Gaiagirl a total of 45 NH 4000 footers. Previously I had only hiked Isolation via Davis Path from Lake of the Crowds Hut and was unfamiliar with the Rocky Branch and Isolation trails (east of Davis Path).
Over the last couple of years I had heard numerous horror stories concerning the river crossings, the bushwhacks, the difficult to follow trails, and more recently, the blowdowns. So, I took extra care studing maps and programming waypoints into my GPS to ensure the hike didn't become too much of an adventure. Though admittedly, a little adventure in a hike is always fun.
We hit the Rocky Branch Trail at about 7:45 with snow falling lightly and a dusting on the ground. The temperature was about 15 degrees. About 20 minutes up the trail we met a backpacker on his way out. We chatted breifly and continued on. As we approached the height of land on Engine Hill the backpackers tracks petered out in the accumulating snow. Ironically, there was only about and inch of snow on the ground at this point, and there was 2-3 inches of snow on some of the evergreens mostly from Tuesday's storm. Evidently the warm ground had melted the snow there while the freezing air temps had preserved some of the snow in the trees.
After passing the height of land we discovered where the Rocky Branch Trail gets it's name, from the river that is only a little deeper. The two inches of snow on the ground made identifing rocks, logs, and ice very difficult. Every time we punched through the ice into water up to 8 inches deep our Stabilicers got a little heavier due to the accumulating ice on them. This brook, I mean trail was a mess. I've seen trails get a little wet from rain but this was ridiculous.
As we proceeded westward with the snow still falling we realized we had lost the trail. Later we would discover we had lost the trail where it turns left across a brook and continues Southwest towards the Isolation Trail junction. After searching breifly for the trail I consulted my GPS and realized we were only about a tenth of a mile from the river which was just West of us. We bushwhacked easily towards the river reaching it in about 5 minutes. We came out along the river between the first 2 crossings, so we bushwhacked North about .2 miles, staying a couple hundred feet from the river where the going was a little easier, until we reached the Isolation Trail just North of the second crossing.
We headed North on the easy to follow Isolation Trail (that notion would change) to the third crossing. We rock/ice hopped easily across the river and reached the fourth crossing about 100 feet further. Another easy crossing. A little ways up the trail we came across a tree next to the river with the bark eaten off one side. After a minute or so of investigation Gaiagirl identified the tree as a Speckled Alder... I identified it as a dead tree with the bark eaten off one side of it.
We both agreed this was clearly the work of a White Tail Deer.
When we arrived at the fifth crossing we discovered that not all of the crossings would be an easy rock hop, but we managed to get across without getting our socks wet. As we proceeded up the relatively flat Isolation Trail we encountered another brook section. We bushwhacked along the trail in some places and hiked up the brook bed in others ignoring the two inch thick ice on our Stabilicer straps.
At about 3600-3700 feet we missed a right turn out of the brook and discovering we had lost the trail again we opted to bushwhack up to the Davis Path. We bushwhacked along the South side of what appeared to be Blowdown Hell. This bushwhack was a little more difficult than the previous one, but still easy compared to Scar Ridge standards. It took about 30 minutes to reach the Davis Path.
The Davis Path had about 10 inches of soft snow on it, most of it from Tuesday I believe. Like the previous trails we'd just hiked blowdowns were not a significant problem though some low trees on the Davis Path will become more of a problem when the snow gets deeper. We found the spur without difficultly, then noticed the sign. We bundled up a little better, left our packs and bagged the summit, arriving at 1:00.
After grabbing our packs at the spur junction, we hiked North in our ice encrusted Stabilicers. When we reached the point where we had bushwhacked up to the Davis Path we decided to continue on to the junction with the Isolation Trail. When we reached the Junction (signs present) we turned right, facing East...and ummmm, continued to look for the trail. It wasn't there. I knocked some snow off the evergreens in front of me and pushed them apart, peering through, I could see trail beyond them. We squeezed between the trees, followed the trail a short distance and repeated the process. As we continued to descend, the trail got more and more difficult to follow. Then we reached...Blowdown Hell. Apparently the trail runs right through this mass of dense blowdowns. We bushwhacked around the West of the blowdowns and picked up our original track in the brook. As we continued South on the Isolation Trail we noticed it had stopped snowing and the sky was turning blue.
When we arrived at the second crossing we decided to continue down to the junction rather than follow our bushwhack across to the rocky Branch Trail. (read: mistake) The second crossing was another easy rock hop. A short time later we were at the Rocky Branch Trail junction and the first crossing. At this point the river is about forty feet across and over two feet deep in places. We spent about 20 minutes looking for a place to cross. The one we found had numerous rocks to hop across on, but it required reaching the middle of the river, then rock hopping downstream about 15 feet before reaching the opposite bank. After identifying the numerous slush islands we were able to safely rock hop to within a few feet of the opposite bank before Gaiagirl decided to stop and wash one of her feet. It could have been worse. She opted not to change her socks, so we proceded eastward in rapidly fading light.
After reaching our original tracks, before we lost the trail earlier in the day, we continued on our way through the sucky section of the Rocky Branch Brook, I mean trail, and then began the descent off Engine Hill to Rt. 16. It was in these open hardwoods that we nearly lost the trail again. Fortunately, due to our high level of exhaustion, we were both able to follow the trail by tripping and falling over nearly every water bar on our way to the parking area. All without any injuries. We arrived back at the car at 6:15. (5hrs. 15 min. each way)
All things considered, it was yet another great hike made all the better thinking briefly about those of you visiting with the inlaws and watching football while we played all day in the snow.
Over the last couple of years I had heard numerous horror stories concerning the river crossings, the bushwhacks, the difficult to follow trails, and more recently, the blowdowns. So, I took extra care studing maps and programming waypoints into my GPS to ensure the hike didn't become too much of an adventure. Though admittedly, a little adventure in a hike is always fun.
We hit the Rocky Branch Trail at about 7:45 with snow falling lightly and a dusting on the ground. The temperature was about 15 degrees. About 20 minutes up the trail we met a backpacker on his way out. We chatted breifly and continued on. As we approached the height of land on Engine Hill the backpackers tracks petered out in the accumulating snow. Ironically, there was only about and inch of snow on the ground at this point, and there was 2-3 inches of snow on some of the evergreens mostly from Tuesday's storm. Evidently the warm ground had melted the snow there while the freezing air temps had preserved some of the snow in the trees.
After passing the height of land we discovered where the Rocky Branch Trail gets it's name, from the river that is only a little deeper. The two inches of snow on the ground made identifing rocks, logs, and ice very difficult. Every time we punched through the ice into water up to 8 inches deep our Stabilicers got a little heavier due to the accumulating ice on them. This brook, I mean trail was a mess. I've seen trails get a little wet from rain but this was ridiculous.
As we proceeded westward with the snow still falling we realized we had lost the trail. Later we would discover we had lost the trail where it turns left across a brook and continues Southwest towards the Isolation Trail junction. After searching breifly for the trail I consulted my GPS and realized we were only about a tenth of a mile from the river which was just West of us. We bushwhacked easily towards the river reaching it in about 5 minutes. We came out along the river between the first 2 crossings, so we bushwhacked North about .2 miles, staying a couple hundred feet from the river where the going was a little easier, until we reached the Isolation Trail just North of the second crossing.
We headed North on the easy to follow Isolation Trail (that notion would change) to the third crossing. We rock/ice hopped easily across the river and reached the fourth crossing about 100 feet further. Another easy crossing. A little ways up the trail we came across a tree next to the river with the bark eaten off one side. After a minute or so of investigation Gaiagirl identified the tree as a Speckled Alder... I identified it as a dead tree with the bark eaten off one side of it.
We both agreed this was clearly the work of a White Tail Deer.When we arrived at the fifth crossing we discovered that not all of the crossings would be an easy rock hop, but we managed to get across without getting our socks wet. As we proceeded up the relatively flat Isolation Trail we encountered another brook section. We bushwhacked along the trail in some places and hiked up the brook bed in others ignoring the two inch thick ice on our Stabilicer straps.
At about 3600-3700 feet we missed a right turn out of the brook and discovering we had lost the trail again we opted to bushwhack up to the Davis Path. We bushwhacked along the South side of what appeared to be Blowdown Hell. This bushwhack was a little more difficult than the previous one, but still easy compared to Scar Ridge standards. It took about 30 minutes to reach the Davis Path.
The Davis Path had about 10 inches of soft snow on it, most of it from Tuesday I believe. Like the previous trails we'd just hiked blowdowns were not a significant problem though some low trees on the Davis Path will become more of a problem when the snow gets deeper. We found the spur without difficultly, then noticed the sign. We bundled up a little better, left our packs and bagged the summit, arriving at 1:00.
After grabbing our packs at the spur junction, we hiked North in our ice encrusted Stabilicers. When we reached the point where we had bushwhacked up to the Davis Path we decided to continue on to the junction with the Isolation Trail. When we reached the Junction (signs present) we turned right, facing East...and ummmm, continued to look for the trail. It wasn't there. I knocked some snow off the evergreens in front of me and pushed them apart, peering through, I could see trail beyond them. We squeezed between the trees, followed the trail a short distance and repeated the process. As we continued to descend, the trail got more and more difficult to follow. Then we reached...Blowdown Hell. Apparently the trail runs right through this mass of dense blowdowns. We bushwhacked around the West of the blowdowns and picked up our original track in the brook. As we continued South on the Isolation Trail we noticed it had stopped snowing and the sky was turning blue.
When we arrived at the second crossing we decided to continue down to the junction rather than follow our bushwhack across to the rocky Branch Trail. (read: mistake) The second crossing was another easy rock hop. A short time later we were at the Rocky Branch Trail junction and the first crossing. At this point the river is about forty feet across and over two feet deep in places. We spent about 20 minutes looking for a place to cross. The one we found had numerous rocks to hop across on, but it required reaching the middle of the river, then rock hopping downstream about 15 feet before reaching the opposite bank. After identifying the numerous slush islands we were able to safely rock hop to within a few feet of the opposite bank before Gaiagirl decided to stop and wash one of her feet.
It could have been worse. She opted not to change her socks, so we proceded eastward in rapidly fading light.After reaching our original tracks, before we lost the trail earlier in the day, we continued on our way through the sucky section of the Rocky Branch Brook, I mean trail, and then began the descent off Engine Hill to Rt. 16. It was in these open hardwoods that we nearly lost the trail again. Fortunately, due to our high level of exhaustion, we were both able to follow the trail by tripping and falling over nearly every water bar on our way to the parking area. All without any injuries.
We arrived back at the car at 6:15. (5hrs. 15 min. each way)All things considered, it was yet another great hike made all the better thinking briefly about those of you visiting with the inlaws and watching football while we played all day in the snow.
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