| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Isolation, Mt. Isolation, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Rocky Branch Trail, bushwhacks, Isolation Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 12, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Rocky Branch parking lot is well plowed |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rocky Branch is iced over, but surprisingly weak esp. at the Iso Express crossing. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few moderate nuisance blowdowns up through Iso Express. Above the Iso Express junction on Isolation Trail and Davis Path: So. Many. Blowdowns. Nora and Celinna limboed under most of them. Old storks need to crawl. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No problem |
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 | Bugs: |
No bugs |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a Columbia insulated mitten on the Davis Path approach to Iso |
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 | Comments: |
TL;DR: Isolation via Engine Hill bushwhack and Iso Express bushwhack is well packed. A little boney down below, but still kinda soft >2500'. Just follow the track easy peasy. Spikes will get you there, but (a) snowshoes will help pack down the trail that's pretty soft at elevation, and (b) it's just easier in shoes when the trail is not boilerplate which it isn't. Lot of exposed running water and some muck on Engine Hill. Don't know what's up with that given the temps.
The rest of the story: You know how sometimes you go out for just a regular hike and it turns into a semi epic for no particular reason? Well this was that. As mentioned above, the trail up to the Iso Express junction is pretty straightforward. Above the junction the snow is deep. It's packed out now, but still very soft and you _need_ shoes. There are DEEP soft spots where there are stream crossings. Many many. Not all are obvious. I stepped into one and got my snowshoe toe stuck under a rock and the rest of the shoe embedded in heavy gelid slush 3' below trail level. Thankfully I did not have to gnaw my own leg off, but it took some doing just to get the strap off and then more to retrieve the shoe, probably half an hour altogether. So that was exciting. Thanks Nora and Celinna for helping me out of a jam! On Davis Path it's less bad with the stream hazards, but there's a lot of blowdowns. And very drifty. It wasn't packed out recently, but it is now so knock yourself out! Ironically the easiest part of the day was the nice open whack out to North Iso. We messed up a little on the David Path approach to Iso itself and walked into the woods a ways before whacking back to the real trail. But if you blindly follow the track you'll still get there. Only Nora went up Iso proper, so I can't vouch for conditions there, but I would imagine pretty packed out given the traffic. |
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 | Name: |
Erik, Nora, Celinna |
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 | E-Mail: |
erik.coder@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-01-13 |
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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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