The title doesn’t speak of one looking for solitude, but rather it refers to a squat 4000-footer called Mt Isolation (4004′) located on the Montalban Ridge which stretches southward from Mt Washington. It’s a popular mountain to those who have hiked to its summit before. And for others who haven’t yet been, it’s a necessary mountain. In some cases, both adjectives — popular and necessary — may be realized by a single group. Such is the case for this trip led by Redline Guides Chase Hall and Debra McCown.
Both adjectives were used with a family and their friend. This, in a nutshell, was due to pacing. We knew it was going to fall on the slower side, which could result in not reaching the summit, the group separating, or a mix both. One contributing factor was they wanted to go in via Glen Boulder Trail, climbing to over 5000-feet, making their way toward Boott Spur in the alpine zone before banging a left and dropping back down into trees. Stating this isn’t a criticism, to be clear. Glen Boulder Trail and that part of Davis Path is an epic and is absolutely worth the extra effort it takes to go that way, even though we know it presents challenges, compounding exposure, elevation, and distance.
The group did separate, but regular stops would bring them back together. The final occurrence at the Davis/Isolation Trail junction. There they stopped and when everyone was back together they had the talk. Chase crunched the numbers, getting out before dark was a priority, so they decided two (the oldest members) would head down Isolation Trail toward Rocky Branch Trail and the distant exit with Chase. And the remaining three members (mom and the kids) would carry on with Debra and her T. rex costume making it to the summit.
It was a long day, but in the end three summited and had an amazing experience, two didn’t and also had an amazing experience, and everyone was safe, sound, and reunited at the parking lot where they left a get-back-to-go car many hours before. Good job fam! Keep reading for yet another perspective, but first here are some photos from Chase and Debra.
Making Mountains of Memories
If there’s one thing that’s obvious about the 70-year-old guest who booked this trip, it’s that she loves her family — and wants them to have the opportunity to experience all of the 4,000-footer summits in the White Mountains.
She brought her daughter and two grandchildren (ages 10 and 12), and also a friend, on an attempt to hike to the summit of Mt. Isolation, ascending via Glen Boulder and descending via Rocky Branch. This is not the easiest route, and she knew it would be a physical challenge to climb 5,000 feet toward the ridge and then descend 1,200 before the summit. But despite the difficulty and a fear of heights, she felt she was ready — and it was a place that she wanted her grandkids to get to see. (I got the feeling she’d try hiking to the moon with her grandkids if she thought they wanted to go.)
She knew that she tended to hike slower than her daughter and grandkids, and they brought radios for ‘Grammy’ and the grandkids to communicate if they were hiking at different speeds. At first we hiked in spurts, with mom and the kids stopping periodically to wait for their grandmother and her similarly-aged friend to catch up. But, over time, it became apparent that her pace would not be fast enough to get her to the summit and back to the parking lot before dark. By the time we reached a key trail junction at our high point of the day, this reality had set in — and she urged her daughter and grandkids to go ahead to the summit without her. She wanted them to see it even if she couldn’t join them.
So, while Chase led her and her friend down Rocky Branch, I took her daughter and grandkids to the summit of Mt. Isolation, where they took pictures with a sign they’d brought along: ‘#31 out of 48,’ it said. In addition to bagging a challenging peak in their quest to hike all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4000-footers, each of the kids also went home with a personal accomplishment to talk about.
The 12-year-old, who was asking about the Engine Hill Bushwhack from the start, got a fun surprise when we reached the small cairn indicating the start of the bushwhack: He got to lead the way! He was uncertain at first, but his confidence grew as he led us down the narrow, soggy path through the woods. And the 10-year-old, who most likely took a well-earned nap in the car on the way home, can boast that on this trip she hiked more miles than she is years old!
The signal wasn’t great on the radios, but after the group split, Grammy and the grandkids gave each other updates: when we passed the turnoff for Rocky Branch; when we reached the summit; when we returned to Rocky Branch to hike down; and when we were nearing the parking lot.
Our 70-year-old guest was happy that her family got to go to the summit. Meanwhile, she and her friend are plotting a less physically challenging route so they can visit it, too, in the future. In any case, it was awesome to see three generations getting out in the mountains together — and that made the day and an epic. —Debra