My back going out gives us a few more days and a chance for one final hike. Owls Head and Isolation are considered two of the most challenging of the 48. We are not ready for Owls Head but we felt Isolation is doable. The water levels are low (their are 10 difficult river crossings), the days are cooling off and we feel ready. We were out the door at 6 am for this challenging hike and the long 85 minute drive to the trail head. Hike observations: this is the easiest 3600 ft. one will ever climb as the ascent is gradual all the way. The trails (we took Rocky Branch to Isolation to Davis) with the exception of Davis are overgrown, wet, muddy, poorly maintained and not blazed at all. The river crossings with Kate and Jordan showing us the way were not difficult. The views were grand but unfortunately Washington was in the clouds. The hardest part of the hike for me was the final descent from the height of the land on Rocky Branch. The trail is very rocky and overgrown - at the end of a long day it was very tedious. Indeed our trip up to Isolation was faster than down - total time around 11.5 hours. The good news is the family handled this hiking hurdle with aplomb!
Distance 14.6miles; Climb 3600 ft; Elevation 4003 ft.
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