Beta for an Isolation-Southern Presi Traverse

Hi all,

I haven't had the opportunity to get up the Whites in a while, and I would very much appreciate some beta for a trip this weekend. The plan is to go up Rocky Branch to Isolation, then continue up the Davis Path. After spending the night somewhere legal off the trail, continue up to Lakes, and then over Monroe, Eisenhower and Pierce, down to the Crawford parking lot.

My question is about trail conditions, since I know it snowed the last couple of days, at least on the ridge.
1) Will there be snow at the parking lot and all the way up? If not, any sense of about where it starts?

2) Once we take the Davis Path, I'm assuming no one will have been up that way in a while. Snowshoes needed?

3) Conditions on the Presidential Ridge itself. I'm assuming microspikes will do, and not crampons.

I'm trying to get a sense of things in this liminal time of year. I'm assuming Koflachs with good gaitors and microspikes will be what we need, without snowshoes or crampons, but please do share your thoughts if you think otherwise, as any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,


Brian

Wolfgang posted trail conditions for an Isolation trip just a few days ago. In their group of three, one went with snowshoes, two with traction as they got near the Davis Path.

The one section of trail I've never done in your trip is the part of the Davis path that climbs to treeline. That's likely to be the less traveled piece & also the piece that has melted the least also.

I'd probably bring shoes & light tracton if available. if you have multiple boot options, I'd go with the lightest pair that is a good match with snowshoes. Thinking Koflachs would be overkill for 1/2 the trip or so, depends on your feet & choices in your closet though

(Okay like one of the moderators here, I have several pairs of boots & shoes)

Mike P. said:

Wolfgang posted trail conditions for an Isolation trip just a few days ago. In their group of three, one went with snowshoes, two with traction as they got near the Davis Path....

Click to expand...

FWIW, when we did Isolation a few weeks ago, we saw NO evidence of anyone going or coming from the North.

Ah, I checked "trip reports" but not "trail conditions" and missed the Isolation report.

Yes, well, the boot issue. If we go with Koflachs, it may be overkill for much of Saturday, and frankly, for much of Sunday too. On the other hand, if they're not fully dry, it means either leaving leather boots out in the 20 degree night, or sticking them in the bags, neither of which is a great option.

Sunday looks to be windy and in the low 20s at best when we're crossing the ridge. Frankly, I suspect I would be happier then in Koflachs, but I guess we would survive in leather boots.

Okay, it sounds like we should bring snow shoes as well.

Thank you to those who have piped in. If anyone else has any thoughts, I welcome hearing them as well.


Brian

North of Isolation, your camping options may be limited. It's a fairly narrow ridge with lots of fir, until you hit treeline. I would not count on finding a legal spot above treeline this year. The area near the top of Rocky Branch stream may be your best bet.

Thank you for that as well! I only did the trail once, in summer, a number of years ago. I was hoping we could get up the trail a ways, perhaps near the brook that crosses the trail a ways up.

Brian

We did end up camping on Rocky Branch as everything was frozen onDavis Path.

Davis Path was well. broken out the entire way. Only real issue was getting from Crawford Path to Davis.

Beautiful day on the ridge.

Thank you to all the folks who wrote comments. It's a bit late to reply, but as Neil wrote, the Crawford Path was in great condition up to above treeline, at which point we donned microspikes all the way to Lakes. We used snowshoes from Lakes down to Rocky Branch.

We never encountered trail that wasn't broken out. Indeed, as we were hiking down the Davis Path, perhaps 15 minutes after getting below treeline, we saw a headlamp coming at us! It was one hiker, all alone, with an ipod, who had come up via Glen Boulder, had gone over to Isolation, and was heading back out! Brave man, I would have been scared witless doing that all along, but hey, let a thousand flowers bloom!

The next day we started out in snowshoes and kept them on until we hit Rocky Branch after the bushwhack. Met a nice couple who were clearly VFTT people, but I didn't think to ask them who they were until we had already separated.

Really beautiful weather! Since Saturday's forecast was good, we decided to do the ridge on Saturday and Isolation on Sunday, and that worked out nicely all around.

As always, thank you all for the advice.

Oh yes, we went in Koflachs, and that also worked just perfectly.


Brian