Isolation
A less defined summit from afar becomes abundantly more clear during the final ascent.
A grand spectacle to the allegory of this place as a whole, Isolation is a substantial reward in exchange for quantified effort. Broken down as a few pieces of snowfield may not seem appealing at first glance, but as a whole this peak warrants a whole greater request.
The approach can be made from the north or south of Mahana ridge; and either entails a set of straightforward benches and accompanied lakes that lead to upper snowfields leading to the summit:
from the south:
Stick out the trail all the way to Bluebird Lake (Thunder Lake Tr > Ouzel Falls > Left on Bluebird Lake Trail), which is likely to be frozen. Cross the lake and then cut north and west upward onto the bench with two small additional lakes (Lark Pond+Pipit Lake). From here there's another bench northwest of you that you'll want to climb towards. On this bench there's a lake called Isolation, and it defines a saddle between Mahana Peak to your right/east and a false summit of Isolation to your left/west. It's also where you'll first spot the full extent of the line:
The line wraps uphill in an "S" like fashion, sticking to the snowfield known as the BCC that winds in a gully extending upwards to another saddle near the summit:
from the north:
Take the Thunder Lake trail past the cutoff for Bluebird Lake Trail and break off to follow the North Saint Vrain Creek west when you hit it. The creek stays low and will lead you through the drainage up towards Mertensia Falls- an aesthetic set of blue frozen falls that you'll need to navigate your way through to make it up onto the bench where Box and Eagle lakes await.
Just south of you is Mahana Peak, which makes up the ridgeline that you'll want to follow as you traverse west:
Continue low in this drainage as you manuever your way towards the saddle of Mahana and Isolation, then shoot straight west to angle onto the broad face.
There's no need to go too far uphill at this point, as the actuall summit is a few points down the ridgeline. So simply angle upwards and over. Just keep pushing onwards and you'll see the summit block extend out above, go ahead and claim 'er!
The BCC Descent
Once you've sufficiently soaked up the tremendous view that Isolation has to offer -- and scoped the sweet/scary options descending off the West side of the summit and off Eagles Beak -- it'll be time to descend.
Convert over at the top of the snowline (it's not that steep up here but be aware of your gear slipping away as it's a long way down).
And descend.
The way out follows the same path as the Southern Route, only in reverse.
