sjhbos
New member
On Saturday I meet up with Sean and John for a hike to Mt. Isolation. I was undecided which route to recommend, we knew that we wanted to go up the Glen Boulder trail but after taking that to the Davis Path and summiting Isolation I was not sure whether to continue along Davis to Rt-302 or to turn off the Davis Path on to the Mt. Parker Trail and then finishing at the Mt. Landon trailhead. Sean is my usual hiking partner but this would be John’s first time in the White Mountains. Decided on the second route option and so we met in the center of Bartlett about 8.30 to drop a car at the finish. Then over to the Glen Ellis Falls parking lot to start the climb up the Glen Boulder trail.
Great hiking conditions, not too hot, a very light breeze above tree line and good views from the summits. We saw very few people all day on the trails and most of them were in the first few miles, a couple of people on their way down and one guy close to Slide Peak who was looking for a nearby water source (hope he was not out of water already). Not sure how stable the Glen Boulder is but John tested this with a lot of jumping when he climbed up on top for a better view down to Pinkham Notch.
Pretty soon we were at the Glen Boulder junction with the Davis Path and then started heading down to Isolation. The Davis Path section above treeline was in very good condition and it was mostly down hill so we made very good time. After about 10 minutes we passed a couple resting who had driven up Washington and were taking the Davis Path to Isolation. They were deciding whether to turn around or keep going for the summit – never saw them again and we stayed on the summit for a while so am assuming that they back tracked to Washington.
Very soon we were at the Isolation summit and stopped there for our lunch break. The sky was very clear and there was a great view in all directions over many of the nearby summits. There were two other people on the summit that we spoke with briefly who had also used the Glen Boulder trail to get there. Not sure if most people would use the Glen Boulder or Rocky Branch for this one.
Then back onto the Davis Path and continued to head south towards Rt-302. Some of the sections of trail over the next few miles were a bit sloppy, soft mud and some of the bog bridges were rotten and provided limited support.
A few hours later we reached the Davis Path junction with the Mt. Parker Trail and turned onto this trail. There was about a one mile section between the summits of Resolution and Parker that was very tough going. Did not look this trail had been used in long time and although we could still make out the trail blaze on some of the trees, the branches and scrub near the trail had overgrown and it felt like a bushwack to try to reach Parker.
I was starting to get tired once we reached the Langdon trail but still reasonable going. This trial is pretty flat and a very wide gentle trail – I think some of the locals use it for their daily dog walking.
Back to the car early evening and then out for dinner at a new pub in Interval. John enjoyed his first time in the White’s and hope that he will be back in the US again and maybe some more hiking.
Pictures http://community.webshots.com/album/552941834pEoikM
Great hiking conditions, not too hot, a very light breeze above tree line and good views from the summits. We saw very few people all day on the trails and most of them were in the first few miles, a couple of people on their way down and one guy close to Slide Peak who was looking for a nearby water source (hope he was not out of water already). Not sure how stable the Glen Boulder is but John tested this with a lot of jumping when he climbed up on top for a better view down to Pinkham Notch.
Pretty soon we were at the Glen Boulder junction with the Davis Path and then started heading down to Isolation. The Davis Path section above treeline was in very good condition and it was mostly down hill so we made very good time. After about 10 minutes we passed a couple resting who had driven up Washington and were taking the Davis Path to Isolation. They were deciding whether to turn around or keep going for the summit – never saw them again and we stayed on the summit for a while so am assuming that they back tracked to Washington.
Very soon we were at the Isolation summit and stopped there for our lunch break. The sky was very clear and there was a great view in all directions over many of the nearby summits. There were two other people on the summit that we spoke with briefly who had also used the Glen Boulder trail to get there. Not sure if most people would use the Glen Boulder or Rocky Branch for this one.
Then back onto the Davis Path and continued to head south towards Rt-302. Some of the sections of trail over the next few miles were a bit sloppy, soft mud and some of the bog bridges were rotten and provided limited support.
A few hours later we reached the Davis Path junction with the Mt. Parker Trail and turned onto this trail. There was about a one mile section between the summits of Resolution and Parker that was very tough going. Did not look this trail had been used in long time and although we could still make out the trail blaze on some of the trees, the branches and scrub near the trail had overgrown and it felt like a bushwack to try to reach Parker.
I was starting to get tired once we reached the Langdon trail but still reasonable going. This trial is pretty flat and a very wide gentle trail – I think some of the locals use it for their daily dog walking.
Back to the car early evening and then out for dinner at a new pub in Interval. John enjoyed his first time in the White’s and hope that he will be back in the US again and maybe some more hiking.
Pictures http://community.webshots.com/album/552941834pEoikM
