Mount Isolation Peakbagging Trip - 2010 - Camping in the Dry River Wilderness
The White Mountains have a rich tradition of peakbagging and there are many interesting peak lists that you can work on. I’m currently focused on the maddeningly difficult Trailwright’s 72, which only lets you count a peak per trip and requires 72 hours of trail work too.
But the problem with most of the White Mountain peak lists is that they cater to day hikers, not backpackers. Don’t get me wrong. I like day hiking and I did 27 of my 48 White Mountain 4,000 footers that way. But backpacking has always been my true love and it is a very satisfying way to string together a lot of peaks on a multi-day hike. Backpacking also means you can linger if you budget the time for it and is a refreshing change from the rush rush pace of a day hike. You can take in sunrise and sunset views, watch the stars at night, eat breakfast on a 4000 footer, or just hang out with your friends in camp.
For example, take the Bonds (Mt Bond, West Bond, and Bondcliff) which are one of the longest single day peakbagging hikes you can do in the Whites. Most peakbaggers hike the Bonds by doing an 22.6 mile out and back from the Lincoln Woods trailhead on a very long day hike. But if you backpack the route in a 1 night trip, you can hike in from Zealand Rd or Lincoln Woods, spend the night at nearby Guyot Campsite, and hike back the next day. I did this trip last weekend and got to stargaze at night and have breakfast on the summit of West Bond the following morning. You can’t experience that day hiking.
The Backpacker’s 48 is not for everyone, but it is a very different way to experience the White Mountain 4000 footers. It’s really just a personal list that I’m working on, but if you’d like to do it too, by all means. Maybe we can even make it an institution someday.
The Rules
In the interest of simplicity, the Backpacker’s 48 includes all 48 peaks on the AMC 4000 footer list. Here are the rules:
- You only get credit for a peaks you climb on an overnight backpacking trip.
- You can’t stay at an AMC hut or RMC hut during your trip unless the hut is a lean-to/shelter with one open side. This means that The Perch (RMC), The Log Cabin (RMC) and Guyot Campsite (AMC) are legal campsites but that Crag Camp (RMC) and Madison Hut (AMC) are not. The only exception to this rule is Cabot Cabin.
- You can summit multiple peaks during a backpacking trip.
- You must record the route of the trip, the location of your campsites and the date you climbed each peak in your summit log.
The Peaks
Here’s a list of the Backpacker’s 48, showing the log of my climbs, as an example.
| Mountain | Elevation | Date | Route | Camping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 6288 | 2009-06-07 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Adams | 5774 | 2009-06-07 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Jefferson | 5712 | 2009-06-07 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Monroe | 5384 | |||
| Madison | 5367 | 2009-06-06 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Lafayette | 5260 | |||
| Lincoln | 5089 | |||
| South Twin | 4902 | 2009-03-14 | Fire Wardens Tr->Lend-a-Hand Tr->The Twinway->North Twin Spur->North Twin Tr | On the Twinway |
| Carter Dome | 4832 | 2009-06-05 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Crawford Path->Edmunds Path | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Moosilauke | 4802 | |||
| Eisenhower | 4780 | |||
| North Twin | 4761 | 2009-03-14 | Fire Wardens Tr->Lend-a-Hand Tr->The Twinway->North Twin Spur->North Twin Tr | On the Twinway |
| Carrigan | 4700 | |||
| Bond | 4698 | 2010-06-18 | Lincoln Wood Tr->Bondcliff Tr->Twinway->Twin Bk->Lincoln Bk->Lincoln Wood Tr | South Twin Stealth |
| Middle Carter | 4610 | 2007-07-07 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Crawford Path->Edmunds Path | Rattle River Shelter, Imp Shelter |
| West Bond | 4540 | 2010-06-18 | Lincoln Wood Tr->Bondcliff Tr->Twinway->Twin Bk->Lincoln Bk->Lincoln Wood Tr | South Twin Stealth |
| Garfield | 4500 | 2009-10-30 | Garfield Tr-Return | |
| Liberty | 4459 | |||
| South Carter | 4430 | 2007-07-07 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Crawford Path->Edmunds Path | Rattle River Shelter, Imp Shelte |
| Wildcat | 4422 | 2009-06-05 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Hancock | 4420 | |||
| South Kinsman | 4358 | |||
| Field | 4340 | |||
| Osceola | 4340 | |||
| Flume | 4328 | |||
| South Hancock | 4319 | |||
| Pierce (Clinton) | 4310 | |||
| North Kinsman | 4293 | |||
| Willey | 4285 | |||
| Bondcliff | 4265 | 2010-06-18 | Lincoln Wood Tr->Bondcliff Tr->Twinway->Twin Bk->Lincoln Bk->Lincoln Wood Tr | South Twin Stealth |
| Zealand | 4260 | 2009-03-13 | Fire Wardens Tr->Lend-a-Hand Tr->The Twinway->North Twin Spur->North Twin Tr | On the Twinway |
| North Tripyramid | 4180 | |||
| Cabot | 4170 | 2010-07-24 | Starr King Tr->Kilkenny Ridge Tr -> Return | Cabot Cabin |
| East Osceola | 4156 | |||
| Middle Tripyramid | 4140 | |||
| Cannon | 4100 | |||
| Hale | 4054 | 2009-03-13 | Fire Wardens Tr->Lend-a-Hand Tr->The Twinway->North Twin Spur->North Twin Tr | On the Twinway |
| Jackson | 4052 | |||
| Tom | 4051 | |||
| Wildcat D | 4050 | 2009-06-05 | 19 Mile Bk Tr->Carter Dome Tr->Carter-Moriah Tr->Wildcat Ridge Tr->Old Jackson->Madison Gulf->Osgood->Gulfside->Lion Head Tr->Tuckerman Ravine Tr | Lost Pond Stealth, Valley Way |
| Moriah | 4049 | 2007-07-07 | Rattle River Tr->Kendusceag Tr->Carter Moriah Tr->Black Angel->Wild River Tr | Rattle River Shelter, Imp Shelte |
| Passaconaway | 4043 | |||
| Owl's Head | 4025 | |||
| Galehead | 4024 | |||
| Whiteface | 4020 | |||
| Waumbek | 4006 | 2010-07-25 | Starr King Tr->Kilkenny Ridge Tr -> Return | Cabot Cabin |
| Isolation | 4004 | 2010-09-07 | Davis Path->Isolation Tr->Dry River Tr | Dry Rviver Campsite |
| Tecumseh | 4003 |
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Hah. I like it. I'm closing in on my NH 48, so maybe I do need another list to keep me busy. I'd like to do the NE100 as well, but….
So here are some more technicalities to take into consideration for this Backpacking 48 list: if you're a through-hiker and you do work-for-stay at the huts, do those 4000 Footers count? I did that, and stayed in town when I got to Crawford and Pinkham Notches, so maybe those don't count, even though I camped in lean-tos outside of the Whites. Or how about if you just work-for-stay at one of the huts, with camping nights on either side?
On the New England Trail, my path through the Whites was a bit convoluted: Camped at Unknown Pond, then hit Cabot and Waumbek, camped near Waumbek then near Cherry Mountain, then climbed Hale, worked-for-stay at Zealand Hut, climbed Tom, Field and Willey, then stayed in Conway. Day-hiked Isolation, stayed in Conway again. Continued backpacking for some more peaks…. so maybe Isolation didn't count. How about Hale, Tom, Field and Willey?
Bet you didn't think you'd have someone nitpicking technicalities this early in the morning :)
I did think about that but it opens it up to people who only sleep in the huts and day hike to the peaks from them. That's why I allowed 3 sided shelters and platforms where the intent was to camp outdoors.
We can rewrite the rule to eliminate paid hut stays (since work-for-stay) is free, but I don't know if you get to stay for free in the self-service huts in winter. Do you know? If they're free that would make a rule amendment hard to write cleanly.
Of course you could also just rehike those peaks. I know that sounds extra hard, but you'll probably do it anyway to get to the ones you missed previously.
Yeah, I definitely will hit the ones I've already done. I've thought of a few other lists I could do, as well. Like 48 With A View (only counting ones I've done with clear views) or 48 In A Cloud (only counting those with no views at all).
So many options. Sometimes I also think I should stop bothering with the lists and just hike. But then again, my natural inclination is to need a specific goal (hence through-hiking).
The Backpacker's 48 is really about hiking and not peakbagging anyway – I know that sounds like a contradiction. I really care more about hiking the trails and stringing together interesting routes than bagging peaks, exclusively. Plus, it becomes a vehicle for doing longer trips into remote areas of the whites, and for bagging lesser peaks that are not on lists. You have to be willing to camp out to get to the heart of the mahoosics, the pemigewasset wilderness, the wild river wilderness and the kilkenny.
The lists help me focus, that's all. Plus working on multiple lists at once is very effective. In addition to the BP 48 and the Trailwrights, I am slowly doing the 52 with a view.
My general strategy is to backpack in somewhere, set up camp, generally at a camp or tentsite, and drop off gear (if possible), and then hit peaks without the weight. I think this lets me multitask and gives me the best of both worlds when the route allows it. I'm only 7/48 so I have certain peaks reserved for Backpacking trips, others for novice winter hikes, and some for day hikes.
I couldn't imagine doing all 48 without doing at least a third on backpacking trips…
Maybe when my setup gets lighter I can be more aggressive.
I can appreciate that. I just like a different view every night.
It's on. Finally a good reason to hit those summits. Thanks!
I really appreciate your comments about the allure of backpacking vs. day hiking. Though I have done a lot of backpacking, I come from a more European model of hiking, and the Whites provide a superb outlet for that style. I love the cycle of early rising, strenuous physical challenge, and relaxed evenings with good food and lodging.
There's always the NH 48 Direttissima. Do all 48 peaks North to South (or South to North) on one backpacking trip…