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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: Sunday, May 26, 2019
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: The parking lot was great (empty, clean, pothole free, and at no cost) 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Final Rocky Branch stream crossing at 3,400 (approx.) was rough on Saturday and rose about 14" overnight with rain. Required some log bridge building and safety lines to cross. Next to impossible both days to cross without getting your boots filled with water. Dangerous. Forceful. In the woods, along the trail (monorail) there were still snow bridges crossing the streams, but they are on their last days before collapsing. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: a typical amount of blowdowns on Rocky Branch Trail and Isolation trail. The blow downs (or rather bent downs) along the Davis Path were much more frequent and challenging (especially to navigate with snowshoes on ontop of 3' of snow). There are NO blazes (that we saw) on any of the three trails. We ran into two other groups that both lost the trail at about 3,500 feet at a cairn and two stream crossings. Challenging to navigate (We lost 45 minutes bushwacking tring to find the trail). Locating trails exacerbated by the fact that most of the trails have become streams and without the blazes you don't know that they are trails.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: no dog notes other than postholing and stream crossings a complete challenge and risk to dogs 
Bugs
Bugs: Small gnats from just above the parking lot to almost to the top of Engine Hill Col. along the Rocky Branch trail. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Lost a cellphone, found a red microspike (Kahtoola?) 
 
Comments
Comments: We experienced every trail condition possible! So glad we brought snowshoes with us. We used them consistently from just after the last Rocky branch river crossing at about 3,400 feet ALL THE WAY TO THE SUMMIT (minus the last 20 vertical feet). For Memorial Day weekend, we were surpised how few people there were on the trail and in the parking lot. Met one group of three young men that made it to about 3,200 feet and turned back as they didn't have snowshoes. Met another three-some (two men and a lady with a dog) that made it to the summit but lost the trail at about 3,500 (cairn by the stream crossings) on the way back. The monorail was brutal to find at times due to the lack on traffic on the trail and lack of blazes on the trees. The Rocky Branch trail from Engine Hill col all the way down to the Rocky Branch River and intersection with Isolation Trail is just one big long wet stream (barely a dry rock for miles). The Rocky Branch river levels were very high. Impossible to cross below 3,400. We used microspikes to grip the wet rcoks underwater as we hopped across at 3,400 (where the Isolation path normally crosses). Expect to need snow shoes for summiting Mt. Isolation for AT LEAST another two weeks.  
Name
Name: Ray Theberge 
E-Mail
E-Mail: ray@flaxin.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2019-05-27 
Link
Link: https:// 
Bookmark and Share 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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