Finally the day was here. The week leading up to this had gone by ever so slowly. All week I did everything I could to distract myself to make the time "go by” faster.
I had driven up the day before (7 hours- spent mostly thinking about how lucky I was) so I could catch EMS in Lake Placid before they closed and rent crampons ($10-first day, $5 for the second) and poles (free-and I don't know why). Also I stopped in Mayfield at the Havlick Snowshoe Company and picked up a pair of 36" snow shoes since they were "on sale", for future hikes. Thank God, my wife puts up with me on this “hiking stuff”.
I met Kevin (from this forum) at 7AM at the trail head near Chapel Pond. The weather was better than we had expected and we were the only vehicles in sight. Kevin signed us in at the trail register and we were off. This was his 5th trip up Giant, my first. We "bare booted " for only a short time and spent the rest of the day in crampons (except for the last half mile on the return). This is a tough trail and there is very little level ground. Be ready to work hard almost right from the start.
We encountered plenty of ice and packed snow. Lots of little ice cliffs to negotiate along with rocks sticking out. Not only are you working your body hard, you must rivet your attention to the trail and constantly be calculating your next step. I was engrossed in the task at hand when we suddenly came to a clearing, overlooking “the washbowl” .
WHAM ! The views were already great , the day sunny and clear and wind mild, if at all. What a rush ! Plus , I had Kevin to tell me what we were looking at. I tried to relate his information to the layout of the peaks as I remembered them on my map. We continued up the mountain stopping from time to time to rest and discuss various subjects, not all related to hiking. There are many opportunities for views during this approximately 3 mile, 3000’ assent. At 2.7 miles is the intersection of the trail to Rocky Peak Ridge.
We made the summit by 11:30 and ate and took some pictures. We had made good time in spite of our frequent stops to gawk and talk. The wind was very tame and when the air was still you could feel the sun beating on your clothes. The views are gorgeous and I’m sure Kevin got sick of me babbling “wow” ,“holy jeeze” and other sophisticated comments.
Feeling revitalized after resting and eating we headed back down to the intersection of the trail to Rocky Peak. I’m not sure of the distance, but It’s about 1.5 miles from the intersection to the Rocky Peak summit; initially descending 800 feet into the col and then climbing 600’ to the summit. Then you have to come back down and climb that 800’ on the return…Ouch ! And then pick your way down a couple thousand more feet ! Kevin- please correct me on my “stats”. Now I finally knew why some people would hike Giant and not do Rocky Peak too.
There was a little more snow on this section of the hike but things went pretty smoothly. We worked our way to the summit of Rocky Peak and took another stop. We were still enjoying little to no wind, intense sun and great views. This was truly a marvelous day. I was thinking, if it gets “better than this” , I don’t care if I ever experience it ! (little did I know what the next morning would bring).
Kevin resumed taking pictures and answering questions about the views, while I enjoyed a yummy smoke. The conditions were so nice we could’ve stayed longer but there was some hard work ahead so we packed up and boogied down into the col. (note re: Kevin, the big cat can boogie). We grimly pushed through the 800’ climb knowing it was all downhill after that. When we returned to the intersection of the Giant trail we took a break,ate, drank and admired the views. My trail mix was fine and it kept me going but at this point I was starting to have visions about turkey and mashed potatoes drowned in gravy at the Noonmark Diner …don’t know where that came from since I only ate there once and it was breakfast !
Our descent of Giant was swift but cautious. Those darn crampons seem to delight in catching on your gaiters, poles, rocks or anything else. You have to consciously adjust how you move your feet to allow for the clearance of the crampons. About a half mile from the end, we returned to “bare bootin”. As light as the crampons are, it was a welcome relief. Kevin signed us out about 5 PM and it was on to the Noonmark Diner for chow. It was a day that'll always be remembered.
I had driven up the day before (7 hours- spent mostly thinking about how lucky I was) so I could catch EMS in Lake Placid before they closed and rent crampons ($10-first day, $5 for the second) and poles (free-and I don't know why). Also I stopped in Mayfield at the Havlick Snowshoe Company and picked up a pair of 36" snow shoes since they were "on sale", for future hikes. Thank God, my wife puts up with me on this “hiking stuff”.
I met Kevin (from this forum) at 7AM at the trail head near Chapel Pond. The weather was better than we had expected and we were the only vehicles in sight. Kevin signed us in at the trail register and we were off. This was his 5th trip up Giant, my first. We "bare booted " for only a short time and spent the rest of the day in crampons (except for the last half mile on the return). This is a tough trail and there is very little level ground. Be ready to work hard almost right from the start.
We encountered plenty of ice and packed snow. Lots of little ice cliffs to negotiate along with rocks sticking out. Not only are you working your body hard, you must rivet your attention to the trail and constantly be calculating your next step. I was engrossed in the task at hand when we suddenly came to a clearing, overlooking “the washbowl” .
WHAM ! The views were already great , the day sunny and clear and wind mild, if at all. What a rush ! Plus , I had Kevin to tell me what we were looking at. I tried to relate his information to the layout of the peaks as I remembered them on my map. We continued up the mountain stopping from time to time to rest and discuss various subjects, not all related to hiking. There are many opportunities for views during this approximately 3 mile, 3000’ assent. At 2.7 miles is the intersection of the trail to Rocky Peak Ridge.
We made the summit by 11:30 and ate and took some pictures. We had made good time in spite of our frequent stops to gawk and talk. The wind was very tame and when the air was still you could feel the sun beating on your clothes. The views are gorgeous and I’m sure Kevin got sick of me babbling “wow” ,“holy jeeze” and other sophisticated comments.
Feeling revitalized after resting and eating we headed back down to the intersection of the trail to Rocky Peak. I’m not sure of the distance, but It’s about 1.5 miles from the intersection to the Rocky Peak summit; initially descending 800 feet into the col and then climbing 600’ to the summit. Then you have to come back down and climb that 800’ on the return…Ouch ! And then pick your way down a couple thousand more feet ! Kevin- please correct me on my “stats”. Now I finally knew why some people would hike Giant and not do Rocky Peak too.
There was a little more snow on this section of the hike but things went pretty smoothly. We worked our way to the summit of Rocky Peak and took another stop. We were still enjoying little to no wind, intense sun and great views. This was truly a marvelous day. I was thinking, if it gets “better than this” , I don’t care if I ever experience it ! (little did I know what the next morning would bring).
Kevin resumed taking pictures and answering questions about the views, while I enjoyed a yummy smoke. The conditions were so nice we could’ve stayed longer but there was some hard work ahead so we packed up and boogied down into the col. (note re: Kevin, the big cat can boogie). We grimly pushed through the 800’ climb knowing it was all downhill after that. When we returned to the intersection of the Giant trail we took a break,ate, drank and admired the views. My trail mix was fine and it kept me going but at this point I was starting to have visions about turkey and mashed potatoes drowned in gravy at the Noonmark Diner …don’t know where that came from since I only ate there once and it was breakfast !
Our descent of Giant was swift but cautious. Those darn crampons seem to delight in catching on your gaiters, poles, rocks or anything else. You have to consciously adjust how you move your feet to allow for the clearance of the crampons. About a half mile from the end, we returned to “bare bootin”. As light as the crampons are, it was a welcome relief. Kevin signed us out about 5 PM and it was on to the Noonmark Diner for chow. It was a day that'll always be remembered.
. I was really impressed at how well you did Clay. Although I only today started to feel sore from the hike, it was definitely a good workout (as you could have guessed by the very slow march back up to Giant after descending RRP). As I said Monday, you should be proud of the accomplishment. Then to hike more the following day! 
Comment