Summit Elevation (m): 2494
Trip Date: November 13 2016
Elevation Gain (m): 1180
Round Trip Time (hr): 7
Total Trip Distance (km): 16
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2 – you fall, you sprain something
Difficulty Notes: No difficulties on the hiking route. The hardest part of the day was driving across the Livingstone River on approach and not blowing over in the winds at the summit. Note: We combined Isola Peak with Monad Peak for the stats and difficulties indicated.
Technical Rating: OT3; YDS (Hiking)
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
Ever since snowshoeing and hiking up Monola Peak in extremely strong winds and a fair amount of snow back in 2012 on November 18th, I had a trip filed away in the back of my mind that would entail both Isola and Monad Peaks to the south and west of Monola. After a stretch of incredible late fall weather in the Canadian Rockies which saw me bag around 7 peaks since the end of October, I was ready to give this trip a shot. Raf Kazmierczak was looking to hike up Monad Peak, so we agreed to team up for this one.
The wind was biting at the summit and we didn’t linger long. I snapped a few panos and some close-ups of familiar peaks in the vicinity before we turned our attention to Monad and our traverse options towards it. The first order of the day was an easy scramble down the west ridge of Isola which allowed us to drop at least 300m in a matter of minutes. This was followed by a somewhat wandering route through cut-blocks and thin forest towards the east face of Monad. The rest of our trip can be read on the post for Monad Peak.
The wind was biting at the summit and we didn’t linger long. I snapped a few panos and some close-ups of familiar peaks in the vicinity before we turned our attention to Monad and our traverse options towards it. The first order of the day was an easy scramble down the west ridge of Isola which allowed us to drop at least 300m in a matter of minutes. This was followed by a somewhat wandering route through cut-blocks and thin forest towards the east face of Monad. The rest of our trip can be read on the post for Monad Peak.
Isola is a hike to the summit. There is no scrambling whatsoever on the southeast slopes. There were tiny pockets of thicker forest but nothing to worry about. Geoff was optimistic in shorts, but even Lisa and I were in t-shirts until we arrived at more open slopes and started getting wind blasted from the west. Layers were donned and we continued up to the summit on the signature black rock that litters the peaks in this area. Views of Monola and Monad were pretty great – Monola was much larger than I remembered it and it certainly deserves a name. Cabin Ridge looked pretty sweet to the southwest as well.
The wind was biting at the summit and we didn’t linger long. I snapped a few panos and some close-ups of familiar peaks in the vicinity before we turned our attention to Monad and our traverse options towards it. The first order of the day was an easy scramble down the west ridge of Isola which allowed us to drop at least 300m in a matter of minutes. This was followed by a somewhat wandering route through cut-blocks and thin forest towards the east face of Monad. The rest of our trip can be read on the post for Monad Peak.
Excellent! Avoiding wet feet was already worth it, but now that we were across, I encouraged Raf to keep driving! I knew we’d made it quite a way up the road back in 2012 and hoped we could at least knock a couple of km’s off the boring approach road in the truck. The road was in excellent condition. I figured it wouldn’t take long to catch up to the folks I’d seen hiking up the road, and sure enough! Soon we were pulling alongside Geoff and Lisa. We offered them a ride and they (literally) piled in the back of Raf’s truck, on top of his bike, which was jammed in there. About 2.5km up the road, we arrived at the top of the same hill that stopped us driving further in 2012 and decided to stop. On hindsight it would be possible to drive about 1km further, but it was hardly worth it, considering the ascent slope of Isola was only about 500m further up the road anyway. After a brief discussion it was decided that Raf would bike up the road and take his time to the summit of Monad while Geoff, Lisa and myself would first bag Isola before joining him. Any decisions about tacking on Monola Peak would be dealt with later in the day.
It was pretty cool meeting Geoff and Lisa, I’ve been reading about their various Rockies exploits on Facebook for a while. Both of them are Kiwis, and we had a fascinating and very engaging discussion as we tramped our way up the fairly open forest on Isola’s southeast slopes. It turns out that our discussion dove-tailed very nicely into the discussion the two of them had started on their drive to the mountains that morning, and yes, it did involve Donald Trump – but not as much as you’d think.
Isola is a hike to the summit. There is no scrambling whatsoever on the southeast slopes. There were tiny pockets of thicker forest but nothing to worry about. Geoff was optimistic in shorts, but even Lisa and I were in t-shirts until we arrived at more open slopes and started getting wind blasted from the west. Layers were donned and we continued up to the summit on the signature black rock that litters the peaks in this area. Views of Monola and Monad were pretty great – Monola was much larger than I remembered it and it certainly deserves a name. Cabin Ridge looked pretty sweet to the southwest as well.
The wind was biting at the summit and we didn’t linger long. I snapped a few panos and some close-ups of familiar peaks in the vicinity before we turned our attention to Monad and our traverse options towards it. The first order of the day was an easy scramble down the west ridge of Isola which allowed us to drop at least 300m in a matter of minutes. This was followed by a somewhat wandering route through cut-blocks and thin forest towards the east face of Monad. The rest of our trip can be read on the post for Monad Peak.
I met Raf at the 37th street parking area along Hwy 22 at the late hour of 07:30 and we enjoyed a nice chat (mostly about his successful ascent of Mount Bryce this past August) before arriving at the trailhead along the Livingstone River. Back in 2012 there was a nice bridge across the river, allowing us to drive a few kilometers up the road that parallels Isolation Creek on its north bank. Alas, the bridge was not there this time. I’m not sure if it’s permanently gone thanks to the 2013 floods or if it’s a seasonal bridge, but judging by the conditions around the crossing, I think it’s best if you don’t count on it being there. Raf and I weren’t so easily dismayed by the lack of a bridge, however. There were two trucks and a hunter’s camp set up on the far side of the Livingstone River, so we knew there had to be a pretty easy crossing for 4×4’s and there was. Slightly downstream, we found a good crossing and Raf proceeded to drive across the river with no issues whatsoever. As we were scouting the river crossing, I had noticed two hikers heading up the road on the opposite side. They must have been the owners of the car parked on the near side and were likely the group Raf had told me would be on the same route as us this day.
Excellent! Avoiding wet feet was already worth it, but now that we were across, I encouraged Raf to keep driving! I knew we’d made it quite a way up the road back in 2012 and hoped we could at least knock a couple of km’s off the boring approach road in the truck. The road was in excellent condition. I figured it wouldn’t take long to catch up to the folks I’d seen hiking up the road, and sure enough! Soon we were pulling alongside Geoff and Lisa. We offered them a ride and they (literally) piled in the back of Raf’s truck, on top of his bike, which was jammed in there. About 2.5km up the road, we arrived at the top of the same hill that stopped us driving further in 2012 and decided to stop. On hindsight it would be possible to drive about 1km further, but it was hardly worth it, considering the ascent slope of Isola was only about 500m further up the road anyway. After a brief discussion it was decided that Raf would bike up the road and take his time to the summit of Monad while Geoff, Lisa and myself would first bag Isola before joining him. Any decisions about tacking on Monola Peak would be dealt with later in the day.
It was pretty cool meeting Geoff and Lisa, I’ve been reading about their various Rockies exploits on Facebook for a while. Both of them are Kiwis, and we had a fascinating and very engaging discussion as we tramped our way up the fairly open forest on Isola’s southeast slopes. It turns out that our discussion dove-tailed very nicely into the discussion the two of them had started on their drive to the mountains that morning, and yes, it did involve Donald Trump – but not as much as you’d think.
Isola is a hike to the summit. There is no scrambling whatsoever on the southeast slopes. There were tiny pockets of thicker forest but nothing to worry about. Geoff was optimistic in shorts, but even Lisa and I were in t-shirts until we arrived at more open slopes and started getting wind blasted from the west. Layers were donned and we continued up to the summit on the signature black rock that litters the peaks in this area. Views of Monola and Monad were pretty great – Monola was much larger than I remembered it and it certainly deserves a name. Cabin Ridge looked pretty sweet to the southwest as well.
The wind was biting at the summit and we didn’t linger long. I snapped a few panos and some close-ups of familiar peaks in the vicinity before we turned our attention to Monad and our traverse options towards it. The first order of the day was an easy scramble down the west ridge of Isola which allowed us to drop at least 300m in a matter of minutes. This was followed by a somewhat wandering route through cut-blocks and thin forest towards the east face of Monad. The rest of our trip can be read on the post for Monad Peak.
