Backpacking Mount Isolation (4,003')

INTRODUCTION TO BACKPACKING

Near the trailhead

while we take our group photo

she shares with her cousin

who is more like a sister

the backpack will feel like death at first

full as it is with all she needs for the night

and an extra pair of boots

in case the others give her blisters

but this feeling won’t last and

at some point during the hike

when she is busy staring

at the wild Diapensia wondering

how something so beautiful and delicate

can flower on the windiest of summits

the backpack will become a part of her.

We all laugh at this, as we shuffle our

feet and adjust our hip belts

standing on the hot cement parking lot

hours before we’re sweaty and tired

and covered in dirt and scratches

from blown down trees along the path,

agreeing that both are true and this

guaranteed transformation

answers why we keep on coming back.

 At the Glen Boulder trailhead (photo by Abigail Pavelko)

 Glen Boulder

  (Photo taken by Sarah Abdelmessih)

 Lunch time at Glen Boulder (photo taken by Matt Giesmann)

(photo by Abigail Pavelko)
 

 (photo taken by Matt Giesmann)

 Diapensia in bloom

 Still some snow in early June!

Dinner at the campsite (Photo taken by Matt Giesmann)

 Sunrise,  at the summit of Mount Isolation (photo by Abigail Pavelko)

  At the summit of Mount Isolation

 At the summit of Mount Isolation

 At the summit of Mount Isolation (sign credits: Jonah Kiok-Kirsehnbaum)

 Breakfast at the campsite (photo taken by Matt Giesmann)

  (Photo taken by Matt Giesmann)

Hike level: Moderate

Location: Pinkham Notch, NH

Driving distance from Boston: About 3 hours

Cost: FREE to hike and backpack

Description: As on of the NH48 peaks, Mount Isolation gets a bad reputation for some reason. Maybe because it is a 14+ mile hike no matter which route you take and most people end up doing it as a day hike, out and back? We made it a backpack and did a traverse, ascending via the Glen Boulder Path and descending via Rocky Branch Trail. The views from just before Glen Boulder and much of Davis Path were amazing and much of them were above treeline, in the shadow of the Presidentials (5,300' elevation). We camped at a tent site about .8 miles from the summit of Mt. Isolation, just after the intersection of Isolation Trail and Davis Path (heading towards the summit of Isolation, off on the left of Isolation Trail about 200 feet from the intersection). We ended up deciding to do a sunrise hike the next day and took in the stunning 360 degree views in early light. The total mileage was 14.1 over the two days.