Isolation Day Hike - NH Trip Day 2
In June, Brian and I spent 3 days hiking in the White Mountains. On our second day, we tried to summit Mt. Isolation.
In June, Brian and I spent 3 days hiking in the White Mountains. On our second day, we tried to summit Mt. Isolation, which is an NH 4000er that is the notoriously far from other peaks and from any trailhead, making it one of the most difficult to actually get to.
And, fact, we didn't get to it.
Links and Stats
- Photos: album (for all 3 hike days) on Flickr
- Strava: map, route, and stats
- Trails: The so-called Dry River Trail
- Trailhead: A pullover off Crawford Notch Road
- Distance: 15 miles
- Elevation: 1200 - 3800 ft
- Hiking time: 8 hrs
- Weather: Continuous rain, dangerously windy near the top
- Conditions: Trails seem largely unused, some dangerous wash outs, tons of slippery rock and root
Journal
We put Isolation in on Day 2 of our 3-day outing so that we would have enough time to fit it in to the day. We knew it was at least a 15 mile out-and-back and expected the trails to be tough. We also thought the weather would likely be ok, although there was a possibility of rain, high wind, thunder, and lightning. So much weather had been moving in and out of the region over the last few days that it seemed likely that if it hit us, it would be for a short period of time.
The beginning of the trail was pleasant and moderate as we climbed slowly next to the banks of the Dry River, which was running with lots of water. After crossing the bridge a few miles in, though, it got more serious.
First, the river has been eating away at the banks where the trail was. Mostly this was fine, but in one spot, the trail is completely gone, taken out by a big landslide and tons of bank erosion. Passing through that section took us a while and felt like it had a few mildly dicey moments where we could have fallen down a pretty steep slope, hitting rocks or the river at the bottom.
It started raining around then, mildly. We kept going and the trail got rougher and rougher. Eventually we started climbing more seriously, and the rain got a lot more serious. We had gotten damp and wet all over, so we put on our rain gear, covered our packs, and kept climbing.
The trail got steeper, sometimes getting totally lost as we navigated down trees, eroded banks, and slippery, mossy rockfalls. We kept climbing.
At what felt like about 2/3 of the way up, we hit an interim ridge, and the wind picked up. The trees above us were dancing in the wind, hurricane-style. Looking at all the down trees, it was really obvious that the trees don't necessarily always stay upright. We kept climbing.
As we approached the top-line ridge, the wind picked up even more. The trees above us were nearly sideways. We found a bit of ledge to take shelter from the wind in, but nothing could protect us from the driving rain. We ate a bit of food in the cold, soggy conditions, and discussed our options. The peak was ahead of us, but still probably 45 minutes away, meaning that we had at least 90 minutes of hiking (there and back) to do in the ridiculously cold and windy conditions. We were worried about trees coming down on us, and about slipping and falling on the wet rocks. If one of us went down in this weather and twisted an ankle, that could be it. Any kind of rescue would be 10-12 hours best case, and conditions were perfect for hypothermia.
So, we decided getting out alive was more important than bagging the peak. We descended as rapidly as we could safely to get out of the highest winds, then eventually stopped back down by the river level to finish our lunch and try to warm and dry up.
On our way out, we both slipped several times, a few times seriously. I broke or sprained a finger, and Brian hurt the knee what wasn't already in a brace. We were incredibly grateful we weren't up on the ridge when these things happened. Moving slowly, we eventually got out.
As we got the the car, the weather became kinda perfect. Sunny skies, light breeze. But up on top, it still looked bad.
We're going to have to try this one again.. Maybe from the other side, which looks no better. No regrets though; going down when we did was absolutely the right call. Dinner that evening was particularly tasty.
