| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Boott Spur, North Isolation, Mt. Isolation, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Tuckerman Ravine Trail, Boott Spur Link, Boott Spur Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur, Isolation Trail, Rocky Branch Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, June 11, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lots of room at the end of Jericho Road, but a surprising number of cars in the morning. It looked like most were from folks spending the night at Shelter #1, most cars were gone in the afternoon. Pinkham Visitor Center was mobbed as was to be expected, we got the last legal spot in the main lot in the morning. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Low water levels right now. That said: the 4 crossings on the East Isolation Trail were all rock-hoppable, but one or two took a little care. You can avoid #2 and #3 with a short herd path bypass. The side stream crossings on Rocky Branch heading South to Jericho Road were generally fine, but sometimes on slippery rocks. There are 4(?) major crossings of Rocky Branch lower down that again were rock-hoppable, but took care. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Aside from some graffiti, Tuckerman Ravine Trail is, well, the road it usually is. Boot Spur Link was fine maintenance-wise. Davis Path was in largely good shape to the Isolation Trail, we removed a couple small blowdowns but there are a number of large (10"+) leaners that in time will be an issue. We ran into the maintainer for this section who was out doing some brushing, we had a great chat, thanks again if you are reading this!
The section of Davis Path from the Isolation Trail to the Isolation Spur was its usual self, largely OK, but a number of bog bridges are in desperate need of replacement through water holes and mud pits. Isolation East was the usual, well-known muddy, wet, and overall obnoxious state in the upper mile or so, the rest actually was not too bad.
Rocky Branch heading South had some mud pits in the upper stretch, but overall wasn't too bad mud-wise. However, the trail has a number of reroutes where the bank fell into the river during Hurricane Irene in 2011. Some are obvious, a couple are a little obscure. Also, similar to the nearby Dry River Trail reroutes, many of these just head up a slippery, muddy bank with no erosion control and back down the same, I expect several of these reroutes to wash out again rather quickly. There is also one stretch in the middle where the trail was not rerouted away from the river, and one must carefully tread on a soft, narrow, eroding bank along the river for a few yards. Many blowdowns along the trail, most are older Wilderness-style stepovers, but there is one large multi-limbed one about a mile from Jericho Road that completely blocks the wide trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Expect them to get muddy! But otherwise, if your pup is up to the miles, the footing will largely not be an issue, and aside from the above-treeline sections there is plenty of water here and there for sips and dips. Boott Spur Link is super steep, so that might be an issue however. |
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 | Bugs: |
A bunch of black flies at the car at the end of the day, otherwise we had no issues with them. Cool and windy especially above treeline, so that likely kept them in bed. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A neat red-lining-driven traverse to get Isolation to finish my Spring 4000-footers. Tucks was busy with groups, but we seemed to slot in between some so it wasn't actually too bad. Boott Spur Link was actually kind of fun, it is super steep and scrambly, but short enough that it was fun instead of annoying. The stair-step ascent to Boott Spur from there was annoying, but very quiet people-wise. Some nice views below an overcast deck to Washington, the ravines, and the Carter-Wildcat range. Davis Path down to Isolation was mostly fine and easy going, except for the stretch of bog bridges that have largely decayed to join the mud pits/water holes they span approaching Isolation. It was here that we ran into many people, roughly 3 dozen worth (some multiple times) between the Isolation Trail and the summit, one of which was a familiar (though shocking to run into!) face. Isolation itself only had one small group on it, but the views were rapidly disappearing as the cloud deck lowered, and it started lightly raining. For the next 2 miles, it lightly rained most of the time, but not much actually fell through the trees to land on us. Once passing the junction with the Rocky Branch Trail to Rt. 16, we saw only 2 people the rest of the hike, who were at Shelter #1 making a small fire in the fire pit. Rocky Branch Trail south was interesting, impressive to see all the massive banks that fell into the river, many 30'+ tall banks that just dropped straight in. Kudos to the USFS for getting this re-opened, it seemed to have been far more impacted than the Dry River Trail, and while I have doubts about the longevity of some of the reroutes, at least it is passable for now. A nice day out despite the limited views (way change last-minute on us weathermen!), with ~8 miles of new redlines. Thanks Kyle for joining in! |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-06-12 |
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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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