| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Isolation, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Rocky Branch Trail, bushwhack, Isolation Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 7, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Three vehicles in large lot on Rte 16 on my arrival at 12:15 pm; only mine on return at 9:10 pm |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Fifth crossing on Rocky Branch still bridged; not sure for how much longer |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Isolation Trail and Davis Path could use some serious brushing |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
one small black lab seemed to having the time of his life |
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 | Bugs: |
billions and billions of snow fleas |
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 | Lost and Found: |
nothing lost or gained |
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 | Comments: |
Rocky Branch Trail from Rte 16 parking lot was softening by the time I began, so it was MRS Evo snowshoes all the way up and down for me. I could not help but notice that someone was bare-boot post-holing more and more deeply on the way up to the height of land, and on down to the first crossing at the site of old lean-to, RB#2. The bare-boot post-holer even crossed the river in a couple of places on marginally thin snow, and was probably fortunate not to fall through. I did not see that anyone had broken out the Engine Hill bushwhack after the new snow on Friday evening, so was hoping that perhaps the folks ahead of me were opening up the old direct bushwhack route due west from the RB#2, which would avoid the Isolation Trail and Davis Path to Isolation, trails that according to trip reports have been essentially bushwhacks themselves because of the deep snowpack this winter/spring. Sadly for me, the folks in front of me did not break out a direct route to Isolation, but rather bushwhacked up the north side of the Rocky Branch until joining the tracks from the Engine Hill bushwhack about a half mile below the fifth crossing, which is where I met a couple on snowshoes on their way down from the top. When I asked if they had met the bare-boot post-holer on the trail, the tall male snowshoer admitted that he was the bare-boot post-holer, and that indeed all of the crotch-deep post holes were his. I asked why he persisted so long bare-boot post-holing while his female partner was using snowshoes. No answer.
To make a long story short, indeed the upper part of the Isolation Trail and the Davis Path were essentially bushwhacks, albeit with a snow-shoed and bare-boot post-holed tread. I find the best way to navigate these overgrown trails in winter is bulldozing with one’s parka hood up, one’s glasses on (ski googles would be even better), and one’s head down. These trails in wilderness areas see very little maintenance and clipping of the vegetation, and are also difficult to hike even in the non-winter season. If every winter peak bagger carried either a small pruning saw or a pair of hand clippers, these trails could be opened up in no time, even if each hiker only took 5-10 minutes to prune while resting (each branch could be trimmed in less than 5 seconds, as the branches are generally not thick).
There were multiple bushwhack paths up and down the summit cone near the Mount Isolation trail sign, which like the sign at the Isolation Trail – Davis Path junction, was barely exposed above the snowpack. The summit was as idyllic as ever, with excellent views of Oaks Gulf to the north, which should be setting up for superb spring skiing. The 5 hours, 20 minutes that it took me to get up Isolation was my record longest time for this route. I was not much faster on the way down, as at least one of the snowshoeing couple reverted back to bare-booting, which made the switchbacks treacherous in the dark, so another 3 hours, 35 minutes for me to get down. Like Greenleaf Rick Gambile on Saturday and the couple ahead of me on Sunday, I followed bushwhack tracks contouring opposite Engine Hill on the way down, which became really scrappy and thick near where meeting the Rocky Branch Trail at the height of land, which explains why I and presumably the others missed the bushwhack tracks on the way up.
I did not check off “monorail†(stable of unstable), because there were not any, and there have not been any all winter, at least from the hikes that I have taken. Rather, this winter has been quite the opposite of monorails, with troughs and trenches commonplace. That said, the monorails will be forming soon, as warm nights melt down the softer snowpack on the sides of the hard-packed treads, enhanced by parasitic, bare-boot post-holers missing the treads, of course.
I am really happy to have “gridded out†April for my over 60, solo, and second rounds, along with upping Apmy pm grid round (beginning after noontime and finishing before midnight) to 29 peaks for April.
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 | Name: |
HFKA Dr. Dr D |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-04-09 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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