Isolation Peak

Route: via Bluebird Lake
Posted On: 7/17/2025, By: kingshimmers
Info: Summer conditions, the one small snow patch is completely avoidable above Bluebird Lake. Absolutely vicious mosquitos though 

Route: Wild Basin
Posted On: 6/30/2025, By: edmdais1
Info: Pretty much summer conditions. A few easily worked around snow fields around bluebird and pipit lakes. Water crossing after Bluebird is tricky but doable. Hard summit as a day hike. 

Route: Wild Basin
Posted On: 10/7/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: No snow. Dry and effectively summer conditions. No summit register. 

Route: Ouzel Peak -> Ogalalla Peak -> Isolation Peak -> M
Posted On: 8/10/2023, By: JasonKline
Info: We did the Ouzel Peak -> Ogalalla Peak -> Isolation Peak -> Mahana Peak loop from the Wild Basin trailhead. It was extremely windy from when we hit the lakes until we finished Mahana. There were summer conditions, with only one or two very short, inconsequential snow crossings. After finishing Mahana, we should have taken the route in the first picture where you immediately descend back to Isolation Lake and hike back to Bluebird Lake, where you can then take the nice trail all the way back to the trailhead. Instead, we ended up taking the route in the second picture where you ride the ridge east and descend to near Ouzel Lake. Don't take this second route. It's great until you descend to Ouzel Lake, which becomes a lot of rock-hopping and bushwhacking. Just descend the west side of Mahana instead. 

Route: From Ogalalla Peak
Posted On: 9/13/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: From the summit of Ogalalla Peak it's about a mile of tundra and embedded boulders en route to Isolation before the scrambling begins. (I did Ouzel Peak too - it's Class 2 if you bother.) It's then another mile or so of sustained Class 2+ with ample Class 3 thrown in. The first section of scrambling is flat, narrow ridge, and then steep boulder scrambling. There are far too many options along the ridge to describe them all, but overall the scrambling is sustained, fun, and solid. To descend I continued north from the summit until the east slopes turned grassy. I went to the flats between Isolation and Mahana Peak, climbing Mahana (Class 2) first, then dropped down to Isolation Lake on tedious, roly-poly talus. I stayed on the north side of Isolation Lake and made my way down to adorably named Pipit Lake on identical terrain. I stayed on the north side of Pipit as well, then dropped towards Bluebird Lake. The route finding in this area was difficult due to heavy fog. A direct descent to Bluebird was impossible due to a large waterfall. Descending farther south was also improbable due to very steep slabs. I contoured around the northwest side of the lake eventually finding a very steep grass, willow, and forest descent to the lake. The willows here were the kind you have to push against o move through, but also so steep I was grabbing them in case I slipped. A tedious and time consuming descent to the lake followed, where I once again stayed on the north side of the lake. At the outlet of the lake there was once again a large waterfall but this time the slabs were on the northeast side, so I scrambled down a broken Class 3 slot towards the narrow outlet then scrambled up Class 3 ledges to the south side of the outlet, finally finding the NPS trail there. Be ready for intense route finding if conditions are less than ideal on this route. 

Route: via Bluebird Lake
Posted On: 7/14/2020, By: MC.Ikema
Info: I did not bring traction but was able to skirt around the snow field above Bluebird Lake on climber's right (north side). 

Route: Bluebird
Posted On: 6/28/2020, By: dbolton
Info: Two snow crossings climbing out of the Bluebird bowl. I used microspikes... but you can judge for yourself from the photos. The rest of the snow is easily avoided in the upper route 

Route: from Ogallalla
Posted On: 8/3/2019, By: shaunblair
Info: No snow. 

Route: East slopes
Posted On: 8/4/2019, By: dereks95
Info: The peak is in great condition. A few lingering snow fields remain on the east side. They are easily avoidable on the way up but offer glissade opportunities on the way down. Views from Bluebird Lake are top notch! Don't forget to head over to Mahana Peak if you have the chance. 

Route: East Side
Posted On: 6/13/2016, By: emgordon
Info: No photos due to clouds, but the bowls/faces along the divide are still holding a lot of snow north and south of Isolation. Seen from Hwy 7. 

Route: Bluebird Lake
Posted On: 10/21/2015, By: emgordon
Info: Great fall day, damp and overcast, and rain made slabs in the final climb up to Bluebird Lake a little tricky. The cloud level stayed around 12,500 all morning, snow was coming in as we left, expect a fresh coat this week. Contrary to some signs, the bridge at Ouzel Falls is not out, the wood is fresh and new. Trail is in great condition and easy to follow, though we did not continue past Bluebird Lake. ​ Some time estimates (with breaks): Trailhead to Ouzel Falls 1 hour Ouzel Falls to Chickadee Pond 1.5 hours Chickadee Pond to Bluebird Lake 1.5 hours Return to Trailhead 2 hours 

Route: Wild Basin
Posted On: 6/19/2014, By: Brian Thomas
Info: We packed in to the Ouzel Lake campsite on Saturday night and did not encounter any snow until just before the spur trail to the campsite. Sunday we headed directly north from camp, across the swamp (there is a log "bridge" through the swamp ~100 feet west of the pond (not Ouzel Lake itself) and we were able to gain the ridge of Mahana, summit Mahana, drop to the saddle and hike up Isolation without any need for snowshoes or microspikes. Descending back into Wild Basin by Isolation Lake, Bluebird Lake, and into the trees, there are steep snow slopes with some nasty runouts that are unavoidable. If you do this route soon, bring an axe. Once in the trees, there is a lot of snow and we were unable to locate the standard trail from Bluebird Lake. Cool, overcast weather on Saturday and a mild freeze on Saturday night are probably the only reasons the descent back to camp wasn't a postholing hell. If attempting this route anytime soon, I would suggest returning over Mahana, the snow in the trees is going to be miserable for at least a few more weeks. I told the rangers at the trailhead our exact itinerary before we packed in, and they were adamant that snowshoes would be needed, but said nothing about needing an axe (GRRR!). If you return over Mahana, you can leave the snowshoes at home and do the entire hike in trailrunners. Also note that the bridge at Ouzel Falls is washed out from last year‘s flooding, to get into upper Wild Basin you have to detour right from the Calypso Cascades / Ouzel Falls trail toward Thunder Lake then rejoin the trail above Ouzel Falls. No idea on when the bridge will be replaced. Sorry, no pics, my phone battery died.