4,004 ft | Presidential | 0 routes
Feels like -25°F
Below freezing at all elevations
~2°F drop per 1,000ft
Best Hiking Window
Conditions are dangerous Sunday through Monday under the wind chill warning. Monday afternoon offers the most relative improvement — winds ease somewhat and skies clear — but temperatures remain below zero and wind chills remain severe. If this hike must be attempted, the best window is Monday under full sun with an early morning start, full arctic layering, and a conservative turnaround time. Tuesday brings increasing clouds, returning winds, and light snow arriving by late afternoon, making conditions worse again. Waiting until mid-week after the storm clears and temperatures moderate above zero is strongly recommended.
Trail: Rocky Branch, Isolation, Davis Path
Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts
“The hike started at sunrise. We stayed in Gorham the night before so short drive to Rocky Branch trail head. The trail conditions were such that snowshoes are still the most effective form of traction start to finish. With the warm up coming i doubt this will change. The trail was a side walk, in great shape. The three of us made it to isolation fairly quickly, & then it was decided we would exercise route finding & navigation skills by breaking out the Davis Path/Isolation trail toward North isolation. It took over a half an hour to get to the junction with walls of snow created by the significant snow fall this year. Tree limbs weighed down with snow blocked the trail for much of the way. There will be many blow downs when this trail is clear. This was 40/48 of the 4ks in winter for me. A decent day in good company....”
Trail: Rocky Branch, bushwhack, Isolation Trail, Davis Path
Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes
“Started from the car in snowshoes and kept them on the full hike. We started with the usual route of up Rocky Branch, across Engine Hill, and ISO Express up the drainage. Everything is extremely well broken out, however someone did think skipping snowshoes was a good idea so now there are postholes in various places along the entire route. After we summited Isolation we decided for no good reason to try to reach North Isolation, so we broke trail from where ISO Express comes out up to the Isolation Trail junction, making very bad time and deciding not to keep pushing. We briefly considered attempting the Isolation Trail down, but made it maybe 200 feet before it was decided that was also a terrible idea. So we backtracked along Davis Path and retraced our steps all the way back.”
Trail: Rocky Branch Trail, bushwhacks, Davis Path, Isolation Spur
Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder
“A few inches of light snow were packed down by 8 of us in snowshoes car to car.”
No routes available for this peak.
Aptly named remote peak in the Presidential Range. Long approaches from all directions.
Elevation
4,004 ft
Range
Presidential
Rank
#47 of 48
Difficulty
Very Difficult
Coordinates
44.2148, -71.3093
Been to Mount Isolation?
Be the first to share your experience!