August 9, 2009
I had a long day yesterday. Usually, if I hike following a long day, I try to keep it to 10 miles. But not today. After 26 miles yesterday, I wanted at least 14 miles today to get my total for the weekend up to 40. The hike to Mount Isolation is 14.4, perfect. I usually prefer the more scenic route over Boott Spur, but today I took the Rocky Branch Trail. Madison always does more mileage than I do as she runs back and forth, so after yesterday's long hike I decided she should rest and stay home today although I don't think she agreed with the decision. I slept in a little this morning, so I didn't hit the trail until 10:15.
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Up I headed to where the Engine Hill Bushwhack starts, but no bushwhacking today. Today, I wanted the miles. The trail brought me down to where I crossed the river. Because I skipped the bushwhack that meant I would have to cross this river 10 times (roundtrip).
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I then took the Isolation Trail to the Davis Path and the Davis Path to the spur. It took me 3 hours and 20 minutes to get to the summit. Not too bad considering I was already pretty tired from yesterday's hike. Although it had been sunny most of the way up, clouds had moved in by the time I was on the summit. I still got a good view though. Except for Mount Washington, all the peaks were still in the clear. Here are a few summit photos.
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I had the summit to myself. It was so peaceful that I decided to take a little nap. I left the summit right at 2:00 and got back to my truck at 4:45.
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