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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Isolation, NH
Trails
Trails: Rocky Branch Trail, Isolation Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, May 26, 2014
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Plenty of parking 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable) 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: First cross is the toughest but some people built a rock step on the crossing just upstream from the trail. The others are doable with big steps/leaps. Crystal opted to change into water shoes and wade the crossings, and the dog had no problem with them despite being a husky who is afraid to swim. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Remember, these trails are considered Wilderness Trails and we are not allowed to blaze them under that designation! We are the trail adopters of Isolation trail. See notes before. Rocky Branch has a few blow downs that were easy enough to get around so we left them. It also definitely needs it's drainages cleaned. I believe Rocky Branch is up for adoption FYI! 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Well there is plenty of water on these trails! River crossings will be tough for a dog without experience doing so.  
Bugs
Bugs: They are definitely out and letting themselves be known, but not biting quite yet. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: FYI the Rocky Branch Shelter #2 is set to be torn down and turned into campsites this year! I'm not sure when it's going to happen but if you want one last visit I'd get it in soon.

Crystal and I went in for a few days to do some spring clean up on our adopter Isolation trail. We took out the annoying blow down section right before Isolation trail meets up with Davis on the ridge and we took down half a dozen blow downs throughout the trail. Nothing too major unlike what we encountered spring of 2013.

Not to toot our own horns, but we did a ton of work on drainages last year and we were happy to see it paid off all the way through the 5th crossing. This weekend was wet, but I've never seen the trail so dry. That's not to say this trail isn't still ridiculous, it's just much better than it has been in the past. And the section between the 5th crossing and before it starts climbing the ridge still needs lots of work. It's flat with no where to drain and thus the trail is just one giant puddle. Will work on that later this year when the snow melts out...

Which brings me to say that there is still a lot of snow after the 5th crossing. The monorail is pretty deep in some places. Thigh high if you posthole. But we found the monorail mostly pretty stable and we were able to navigate that section without gaitors and microspikes. We talked to a couple people who came over from Davis from Slide Peak/Washington and they said the snow was DEEP up there.  
Name
Name: Brian, Crystal & Kya 
E-Mail
E-Mail: brian(dot)m(dot)schuster gmail 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2014-05-27 
Link
Link: https:// 
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