After a LONG and SHIT winter, we finally scored a quality day. It was better than one could hope for in February- sunny, warm (like 40!) and low low winds. We were all excited, and eager to tackle one of our favorite hills. (Evan's first time on this one!)
The winter route for Isolation starts at Rocky Branch trail, which we all know is a soupy mud mess in many seasons. After climbing this trail for just over 2 miles, you turn right at a tree with a T cut into it (easy to miss!)
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And then take what is known as the Engine Hill Bushwack. It is lovely, and was very easy to follow (there was intel that someone had gone rogue and made a sub-bushwack of lesser quality. since we knew to avoid it, no issues were had!) You chug along this BW for about a mile, and take in the beautiful groves of birch. Really, incredibly pretty.
From Engine Hill BW, you spend about 50 feet on the actual Isolation trail before heading down a hill to a river crossing, and then you spend a mile on another wonderfully useful BW that people call Isolation Express. (there were a few rambling sub-"trails" but, evidently, all roads lead to the same place at this point.) Iso Express dumps you onto Davis Path- and it's maybe a half mile to the Summit at that point.
This is a super super route, and even though we LOVED doing this via Glen Boulder in August of '19, this route can not be beat for winter (it IS the major winter route.)
Even though it was kind of dreary at the summit, we all enjoyed the unique view this mountain offers.
This hike was a ton of fun for so many reasons! We always enjoy sharing our favorite peaks with Evan, and we all enjoyed this trail so much. The weather was AMAZING- Evan is crazy and went shirtless for most of the hike, and yes, people were calling out his crazy. We discovered that certain brands of lemon pepper tuna come with a utensil- SCORE!! There were a good number of other hikers on the trail, but we still had plenty of space to ourselves. AND- none of us fell into the spruce trap! (because someone had, and it was obvious!)
It was a STELLAR day in the mountains. This checked off Isolation for Winter, for February, and for this round of the 48.
Miles: 10.75
Elevation: 3271
Time: 4:27:22
Fun: 10! A perfect day!
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