| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Isolation, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Rocky Branch Trail, Isolation Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, September 9, 2022 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The trailhead parking lot for Rocky Branch is huge, considering where the trail goes. Still, there were only two other vehicles on arrival at 7:30, still just two at 5. I saw just seven other people the whole day, and some had come in using other trails. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
|
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The five on the Isolation Trail are the only significant ones, but all were handled without wading. See notes below for more detail. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All trails were in fairly decent shape, for the most part. In general, there was a lot less water on the trails than I had expected, given the heavy rain earlier in the week. It was significantly drier than on some prior trips. Most notable was that long gently downsloping section of RB before getting to the river, where on prior trips it has seemed like stone-stepping down a stream bed. Today there was much less water between the rocks, in many places none at all. Still, as before, I could make fairly decent time stone-stepping my way the whole length of that section. The stretch of Isolation above the last crossing also had much less water on it. Only a couple of the few usual muddy places on the mile of Davis Path might benefit from some attention, where obvious foot traffic to the side has trampled vegetation and eroded the thin soil cover. In other places, I could move right along, using stones, log sections previously placed in the mud, and remnants of bog bridges. This is not a trail for sneakers, though. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw one, well-behaved, oblivious to me. |
|
 | Bugs: |
None to speak of, and I hadn't applied bug juice. |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
Found a small hiking pole basket most of the way back down RB, looking fairly new. I put it in my pack, along with a bottle cap found earlier high up. Cap is trash, basket goes into my small collection of such parts. |
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
The only real crossings are the five on the Isolation Trail. Numbering from #1 being at the intersection with Rocky Branch, that one was the only one presenting much problem. I had brought my water shoes, but I didn't need them. Close to and slightly downstream of where the trail would go straight across, the rock leaps seemed risky to me (perhaps not to the younger, taller). Less than 100' upstream I found a place more to my liking, where I crossed easily enough, then ducked under some brush on the west bank to a herd path up to the trail, maybe 50' north of the trail signs. With higher water, this route might be more iffy.
Crossing #2 wasn't too bad. I found a dead white birch had fallen horizontal onto a large boulder. Making my way to the downstream side of that tree, I found it useful to hold onto, for positioning myself for the step stones across the main flow. It wasn't until I got across that I saw the better path, perhaps 20' downstream of that birch. The step stones across the flow were much better, and the large boulder on the west side was gently sloped eastward, hiding that crossing from the western side. That is the route I took on the return trip; after crossing that way, it's easy enough to walk up to where that birch is, with plenty of clearance to duck under it and get back to where the embankment can be climbed. Of course, a real boulder-moving deluge some time in the future could alter this and other crossings.
After making my way fairly easily over crossings #3 and #4, which are only a few hundred feet apart, I noticed the north end of what obviously looked like a herd path/bushwhack to avoid those two crossings. On the return trip, I figured I'd explore that, given how close those two crossings are. It turned out to be an easy to follow and walk path that short distance through the trees, never very far from the river. When I got to where crossing #3 is, I looked back to see what that bushwhack looked like from the other (northerly) direction. It's plain enough to find, knowing it's there, and the accumulated evidence of foot traffic along it is quite visible. Crossings #3 and #4 weren't too bad anyway, but in the future I (and likely many others) will skip them via the bushwhack, and that's where the "de facto" trail will be.
There is quite a long, very nice, and mostly dry stretch of trail through the woods, from that bushwhack up to crossing #5, which also was fairly easy.
I hope the above notes help the others taking this route to Isolation, particularly any first timers. The whole route is an awfully long walk, of course, and I was glad to be back at the car some 9-1/2 hours after starting out. |
|
 | Name: |
Pappy |
|
 | E-Mail: |
|
|
| Date Submitted: |
2022-09-10 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
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. |
|
