A few feet more to Mt. Isolation summit
Mt. Isolation
Elevation: 4,003 feet
Trails: Rocky Branch, Isolation, Davis Path
Elevation Gain: 3,400 feet
Distance: 14.4 miles roundtrip
Duration: 12 hours (includes stops along the way and at the summit)
My 4000+ Peak #34
Duration: 12 hours (includes stops along the way and at the summit)
My 4000+ Peak #34
Listed 4000+: #47
Difficulty: Moderate – Fricken’ Looooooong!
Number 34 for me! I’ve been wanting to hike “Iso” for a
while but NOT SOLO! So when I got a chance to join Steff, Lisa, Jeanne and
Luann for this hike, I took it. Little did I know that even the “easiest trail”
was going to be a haul-slop-and-slog! 2 miles into this hike I had extreme
cramps in both quads. Over the next 30 minutes dearest Steff pumped me full of
Magnesium pills…10 to be exact. I almost headed back to the trailhead with Steff in tow, but
the cramps subsided and I continued on. So glad I did but geeez, my quads were
mush at the end of this hike. And to add, on our descent I slipped and landed
on my tailbone! (I did get a post-hike, deep
tissue massage and this helped immensely!)
If only this trail were totally dry. A good portion of it was wet,
underwater and/or full of mud. Lots of water crossing…all fun of course, but I lost
count. I got several bug bites and although I didn’t find any on me, Jeanne did
manage to pull a tick off her forehead. I brought 3 liters of fluids and had half
a liter left at the end of the hike. The last hour of our descent we all donned
headlamps. 12 hours on the trail was rough! We headed to The Red Fox Bar & Grille in Jackson
for our post-hike dinner, limping from the car to our seats!
