U
Unregistered
Guest
Mt. Isolation on 1/24/2015
In via Glen Boulder, out via Engine Hill bushwhack & Rocky Branch Trail
Random Group of Hikers, party of 4.
Trail Conditions: We appreciated finding the entire route well broken out. Most of the route was still soft enough to make snowshoes the better tool. Bony with some ice & drift pockets from treeline below Glen Boulder to the patch of trees below Slide Peak. A few of us switched to spikes for that bit but no one wished they had crampons. Hunchback walking through the tree patch. Hard sastrugi & sunbake in vicinity of Slide Peak. We took the shortcut from Glen Boulder to Davis Path, cutting off the uphill corner. Drifts of up to 2.5 with average base of 1.5 along Davis to Isolation. More hunchback walking, still a load on the trees. The same blowdowns that were there last winter seemed to still there this year, perhaps ~15 obstacles with broken out work arounds, overs, and unders. The usual dead-end-mixup and backtrack at the round boulder on Davis at the 1st col was still fooling everyone. All of the bushwhacks well broken out, as was the Rocky Branch Trail too. Single brook xing along the trail + bushwhack route was almost all frozen over with some sketchy holes. Some empathetic folks before us postholed through the birch glades, thanks for that gift folks. Some melted out spots on the descent but all good with snowshoes, could have justified spikes at the lower elevations where the snow was thinner.
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes, maybe spikes.
Comments: We were easily able to drive a 4WD vehicle into the Glen Boulder trailhead access road for parking but a bit icy there. Rocky Branch is plowed out. Three grey jays on Isolation. Encountered only a party of 2 hikers on descent but others had clearly made the journey and were gone by the time we got to Isolation. Predictions of wind were vastly overrated.
Your name: Shoeless Paul
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
In via Glen Boulder, out via Engine Hill bushwhack & Rocky Branch Trail
Random Group of Hikers, party of 4.
Trail Conditions: We appreciated finding the entire route well broken out. Most of the route was still soft enough to make snowshoes the better tool. Bony with some ice & drift pockets from treeline below Glen Boulder to the patch of trees below Slide Peak. A few of us switched to spikes for that bit but no one wished they had crampons. Hunchback walking through the tree patch. Hard sastrugi & sunbake in vicinity of Slide Peak. We took the shortcut from Glen Boulder to Davis Path, cutting off the uphill corner. Drifts of up to 2.5 with average base of 1.5 along Davis to Isolation. More hunchback walking, still a load on the trees. The same blowdowns that were there last winter seemed to still there this year, perhaps ~15 obstacles with broken out work arounds, overs, and unders. The usual dead-end-mixup and backtrack at the round boulder on Davis at the 1st col was still fooling everyone. All of the bushwhacks well broken out, as was the Rocky Branch Trail too. Single brook xing along the trail + bushwhack route was almost all frozen over with some sketchy holes. Some empathetic folks before us postholed through the birch glades, thanks for that gift folks. Some melted out spots on the descent but all good with snowshoes, could have justified spikes at the lower elevations where the snow was thinner.
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes, maybe spikes.
Comments: We were easily able to drive a 4WD vehicle into the Glen Boulder trailhead access road for parking but a bit icy there. Rocky Branch is plowed out. Three grey jays on Isolation. Encountered only a party of 2 hikers on descent but others had clearly made the journey and were gone by the time we got to Isolation. Predictions of wind were vastly overrated.
Your name: Shoeless Paul
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
