Miles of Slippery Rocks
On Isolation summit looking over to the Presidentials
I like to hit the trails early, as in, I like to get there around sunrise to beat any crowds and the heat. I decided to hit Isolation on Saturday so to get that early start I decided last minute to stay up in Gorham the night before. Isolation was going to be a long 14 miles so removing the early 2.5-hour drive would be very helpful. The hotel in Gorham was interesting to say the least, but the two-man band and the prime rib at the restaurant made it feel enjoyable.
A quick 20-minute drive to the Rocky Branch trail at 5:30 AM. There were two other people there in the parking lot and I took off before them after a short talk of the weather. It was a humid day for sure and I sweat completely through two t-shirts on this day. The first two miles of the trail is the most elevation gain, and the rest of the hike was relatively easy slope, however the elevation was not the real challenge on this hike… it was all the slippery rocks. I mean every single rock was wet, every one of them. To which I slipped a couple of times to land on my butt, which is pretty good ego killer for sure. I also went face first for the first time which my palm took the brunt of the fall. Somehow my hiking pole got stuck in between my legs preventing me from stepping forward to brace myself. I took a long moment to check myself for injuries, swear out loud, and take a breather to collect myself. I came away from this hike with several cuts and bruises that were not apparent to me until I took a shower later. Slipping on a rock is dramatic to the body and to the mind and takes a bit of your momentum out of you.
The trail follows a stream for about half of the distance, so it was a lot of rock hopping with the danger of slipping. Sometimes the trail maintenance person will put down small logs to avoid muddy sections and sometimes they are not stable. One time it sunk completely, and my foot went into mud past my boot. I just had to laugh at that one as it’s all part of the adventure. Water and mud were the common trail conditions. There are two major trails to get to Mt. Isolation, where one you must hike up 5,000 feet and then down to Isolation and this one which is gradual but less vibrant.
I took the bushwhack to cut off some distance to which I almost immediately regretted and choose not to take it on the way back. Because it is summer all the ferns and goldenrods blocked any evidence of a herd path on the ground and there was very little bent vegetation from previous hikers to guide the way. So, it was a lot of zig zags with assistance from my GPS phone app and stepping over fallen trees with scrapes from tree branches. It was a very frustrating mile, and it was only worth it for the birch glades towards the beginning. The colors and wilderness of it was nice but everything had water on it, and I was soaked by the time I saw the trail again to which I was happy to see and let out a long exhale.
Two more miles of wet rocks mixed in with some nice flat pine forests and a small last bit of bouldering to the summit to gain the view. It was overlooking the Presidentials and had a large flat area to rest, eat and get some wind in the face which was nice after 6.5 miles of stuffy forest cover. There was only two people at the top and one of them was from a YouTube person I watch named "Trail Slippah" and was great to talk with him some more. I knew I had a long walk out to the car, so I pulled up my big boy pants and hit the trail back down. I saw the two guys from the parking lot on the way down who looked beat up and struggled with the bushwhack. By the time I was 12 miles in I wasn't having that much fun, however I had some music going to keep me focused and feet moving Plus, I had a cold beer waiting for me.
Isolation is number 47 out of the 48 4000 footers and I cannot believe I am almost done. And I will have finished within a calendar year which is very impressive I might say so myself. Once I am done, I will write about what I have learned and other thoughts, but for now I am squarely focused on finishing my goal with one more set of slippery rocks. 10 more miles left!
Date
August 21st 2021
Distance
13.51 miles
Elevation Gain
3,399 feet
AllTrails