Copy/Repost Hike

We did Mt. Isolation The Fun Way. Most folks hike Isolation as a day hike from Route 16 with either a round trip in and out on the Rocky Branch Trail or Glen Boulder Trail or as a traverse that combines both, in all cases starting and ending at Route 16. These hikes vary from 12 miles to 14.6 miles [moderate to long day hikes]. This approach as a backpacking trip started from the south end of the Rocky Branch Trail at the end of Jericho Road in Jackson and traveled north to Mt. Isolation Trail, Davis Path, and the Isolation Spur. For good measure we added a second night so we could continue traversing the Davis Path to enjoy Mt. Davis, Giant Stairs and Mount Crawford. This route is a real treat.

We planned to meet where we would end at 11:00am, leave a couple cars here and then drive together to the Jericho Road trailhead. After waiting for about a half-hour for a member who never showed up, we decided the group was complete. Our group included two dogs, Katashi and Mac. We drove to the trailhead and upon arrival were ready to hike.

The day was cool with clear skies but quite breezy ~ ideal fall conditions. The Rocky Branch trail from the south end follows the Rocky Branch of the Saco River crossing it several times before reaching the junction with the Mt. Isolation Trail, where it turns and heads east to Route 16. We were hiking this southern portion of the trail on Saturday and tenting out near Rocky Branch Shelter #2. Initially, the trail follows a series of logging roads that eventually lead to Rocky Branch Shelter #1 and the junction with the Stairs Col Trail at 2 miles. This section is very similar to the Wilderness Trail, without the railroad ties, gaining only 300 feet in these first two miles ~ definitely an easy warm-up for the day.

We had lunch at Rocky Branch Shelter #1 and met nine guys who had been staying in this shelter since Thursday. The guys had an axe/saw for firewood to keep them warm, two dutch ovens for baking homemade bread/donuts, plenty of food and of course, lots of alcohol. Needless to say, these boys were well prepared and ready for a good time. From here the trail is more trail-like and less road-like. We worked our way towards Rocky Branch Shelter #2 and once we reached our first crossing of Rocky Branch for the day [one of four] we found high water conditions making it difficult to cross. As a result, we ended up bushwhacking at two crossings so we could remain on the western bank. The bushwhacking was not too bad except for when we had to climb up a steep, muddy river bank, to get away from the stream. It's easy to understand the name of the stream. I took a few pictures to photograph the features of the stream bed, which includes some very large boulders. 

The Rocky Branch Trail leading to Rocky Branch #2 also gives the impression it may be an abandoned trail. There are sections where the trail is overgrown and with many blowdowns. I've been on bushwhacks that were more open. So while we 'officially' bushwhacked to bypass the water crossings, sometimes it felt like we were still bushwhacking on the real trail. The final one mile leading to Rocky Branch Shelter #2 is perhaps the densest with a number of mud bogs. The trail in this area follows the very edge of the bank above the stream [at times 30 to 40 feet above]. A misstep or trip over a hidden stump or stone could send you over the edge. Be careful!

We reached the shelter around 5pm and looked for tent sites. We found that was not enough tenting space for our entire group so Gary, Jon and myself decided to stay inside the shelter with four guys from Manhattan. After settling in, we cooked up some dinner. I carried in two frozen Bertolli dinners [Sausage, Rigatonni pasta, roasted peppers and spicy tomato sauce] for Jon and I to eat. They were great! It was still very windy and temperatures were dropping into the high 20's. We then snuggled up inside our sleeping bags sipping some whiskey. We're having fun now!  We went to bed around 8pm.

The next morning we woke up around 8am with the sun warming up the air to around 40 degrees. Markus had a real tough time keeping warm due to an inadequate sleeping bag so he decided after we reached Mt. Isolation to hike back to his car skipping the overnight. We got going around 10am where we then hooked up with the Mt. Isolation Trail.

The Mt. Isolation Trail continues to follow the Rocky Branch upstream crossing a number of times along the way. The trail is generally rougher than the section of the Rocky Branch Trail we did yesterday and the elevation gain becomes greater but never really significant. We had four crossings of Rocky Branch to do again today and at the first crossing, both my feet slipped off a rock and I almost fell in. I lost one of my trekking poles which Gary retrieved. [Thanks Gary!]

The trail had a number of muddy sections and we decided to do a 0.1 bushwhack to bypass two middle crossings. Along this section we started to see other hikers out for the day. Right where we decided to bypass one of the water crossings we met a hiker in his 20's heading back to his car after tagging Mt. Isolation. At the last crossing we finally left the stream roughly a mile before reaching the Davis Path.  The final section to the Davis Path is through a dense area of spruce where there has been significant blowdown damage. Most of the blowdowns are cleared but the trail is tight in many areas. Another hiker passed us by at this section.  

From the Mt. Isolation Trail ~ Davis Path junction it is a short one mile to the summit and only ~ 153 feet of elevation with 53 feet coming in the final 0.1 miles on the Isolation Spur. We covered this section quickly and soon found ourselves on the open summit area of Mt. Isolation enjoying the great 360 degree views it has to offer. It was very breezy. I recorded a sustained wind of 15mph with temperatures in high 40's. Mt. Washington cone was snowcapped. We took some pictures. We hung out for only 5 minutes because we were starting to get cold.  

From here to Stairs Mountain we made our way through countless mud pits on the Davis Path.  By 2pm we reached the steep Mt. Davis spur at which time Markus bid his farewells. The views from the open summit were terrific. We then continued on the Davis Path. Probably due to recent rains, the Davis Path has a great number of mud bogs to cross with care. Some have log bridges while others have you on your own. Our legs were getting weary and we decided take the Stairs Spur and tent on the summit of Stairs Mountain instead of our original plan of staying near the Resolution shelter. We got there around 5pm. We enjoyed clear views and the view we found was amazing.   

There was barely enough room for four tents but we made it work. Jon and I found a small site next to the ledge. While settling in, we enjoyed a spectacular sunset! Jon cooked us a dinner of four cheese pasta with some tuna steaks. Yummy! It was still very windy but temperatures were not as cold as the previous night which allowed us to chit chat around Jon's candle lantern sipping more whiskey. From the open ledge, we did some stargazing and looked at the flickering lights of the towns below. We saw some strange red and glowing lights above Mt. Carrigain and decided these were aliens looking for Markus. We're having even more fun now!  After sharing some trail stories [some which will remain secret from within the group] we went to bed around 9pm.

We awoke to a spectacular sunrise that we could see from the open ledge. We decided to have an early start to be finished by noon so we left around 8:30am. We dropped down and around Giant Stairs, and then filtered some water from a brook. We decided not to visit the Resolution Shelter where we had originally planned to camp. The Davis Path from here back to our cars had a great footbed. Much better than yesterday. The lovely woods walk continued, becoming a narrow path over smooth moss edged bedrock. Open areas, reminiscent of Welch and Dickey, are frequent.

We took the spur trail up to Mt. Crawford with our final spot for views. The views were amazing. Surprisingly, it was much windier and colder than the summit of Mt. Isolation the day before so we didn't stay up here very long. We finally started down to the road. Underneath, the trail breaks into that crumbly ‘rotten granite’ gravel. We could see huge slides of this stuff (which at a distance looks like sand) on the hillsides around us.

Our last footsteps took us across the suspension bridge over the Saco River and back to the car-an excellent backpacking trip.

What a great backpacking trip to Mt. Isolation and the Davis Path! Even though it was tough due to the high water conditions and cold, our trip was perfect. The guys in the group were really entertaining and fun to hike with. We enjoyed having the dogs around too. What a trip!

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