bryan
New member
date: 11/26/12
trails: rocky branch trail, bushwack, isolation trail, davis path, isolation spur
conditions: light covering of snow with leaves and semi frozen ground down low. isolated spots of crusty ice and frozen mud with an increased coating of snow to where the trail moderates and heads towards the height of land. wet and semi frozen mud through here with minor ice. bushwacked from the height of land, with anywhere from a dusting to an inch of powder, to isolation trail between the second and third water crossings. isolation trail had more frequent ice along with about an inch of snow with frozen and unfrozen puddles and mud. we used the short bypass around water crossings 3 and 4 as well. the sandy blowdown begins a bit below the climb to the campsites and joins the already existing blowdown in that area. blowdown is pretty impressive heading into the campsite area and i imagine a short re route will be in order in one spot. between cutting by prior hikers and us today there is an evident corridor through all of this though its not smooth walking. come winter it will make more sense to use the route through the gully south of the trail and bypass the campsite knoll entirely (as is often the case anyway). more impressive blowdown initially on davis path as it drops back down from the knoll to the sag. cut some out of there today as well. more work necessary down the line, but it's passable. one big blowdown right in the sag easy to go around to its west. from there to the summit the trail has the same coating of snow with spotty ice. the upper crossing of the rocky branch was a pretty simple rock hop just down stream from the trail though ice covered rocks necessitate care.
equipment: used microspikes from isolation trail to the summit and back to the bushwack.
comments: a windy, cold and gray day on isolation though it did clear later once we were well on our way down. the mixed conditions made footing tricky at times though the layer of snow made it easy to quickly retrace our steps through the bushwack. the blowdown all around the campsite knoll needs more work, but it's not too bad at this point. pretty neat in spots where the whole forest seems to be at a slant. a real taste of winter up on the summit today. thanks to cynthia for a nice hike.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: rocky branch trail, bushwack, isolation trail, davis path, isolation spur
conditions: light covering of snow with leaves and semi frozen ground down low. isolated spots of crusty ice and frozen mud with an increased coating of snow to where the trail moderates and heads towards the height of land. wet and semi frozen mud through here with minor ice. bushwacked from the height of land, with anywhere from a dusting to an inch of powder, to isolation trail between the second and third water crossings. isolation trail had more frequent ice along with about an inch of snow with frozen and unfrozen puddles and mud. we used the short bypass around water crossings 3 and 4 as well. the sandy blowdown begins a bit below the climb to the campsites and joins the already existing blowdown in that area. blowdown is pretty impressive heading into the campsite area and i imagine a short re route will be in order in one spot. between cutting by prior hikers and us today there is an evident corridor through all of this though its not smooth walking. come winter it will make more sense to use the route through the gully south of the trail and bypass the campsite knoll entirely (as is often the case anyway). more impressive blowdown initially on davis path as it drops back down from the knoll to the sag. cut some out of there today as well. more work necessary down the line, but it's passable. one big blowdown right in the sag easy to go around to its west. from there to the summit the trail has the same coating of snow with spotty ice. the upper crossing of the rocky branch was a pretty simple rock hop just down stream from the trail though ice covered rocks necessitate care.
equipment: used microspikes from isolation trail to the summit and back to the bushwack.
comments: a windy, cold and gray day on isolation though it did clear later once we were well on our way down. the mixed conditions made footing tricky at times though the layer of snow made it easy to quickly retrace our steps through the bushwack. the blowdown all around the campsite knoll needs more work, but it's not too bad at this point. pretty neat in spots where the whole forest seems to be at a slant. a real taste of winter up on the summit today. thanks to cynthia for a nice hike.
bryan
[email protected]
