September 1, 2008 - Giant Mountain & Rocky Peak Ridge

On another clear and warm day, Jack and Rich set out for the top of Giant Mountain. Jack picked the destination; Rich selected the Ridge Trail. We got another very early start; on the trail by 8:00 AM. At the first lookout over Chapel Pond, we met a DEC ranger who was able to give us some pointers about some of the views we were seeing, as well as some camping advice for our later trips. The views along the hike were spectacular, although Jack kept getting startled by the "clicking" grasshoppers that flew up in front of us as we climbed. As we got closer to the summit, we met some campers coming down from the top who asked us if we were planning to go over to Rocky Peak after Giant. Although not part of our itinerary, Jack started to push for it when the campers told us that it would probably be too hard for us to accomplish in a single day. We reached the top of Giant in under two (2) hours, and relaxed on the top for about 30 minutes.

Jack said that he felt great, and with lots of daylight left we decided to head over to Rocky Peak Ridge. The descent into the valley between the peaks was steeper than we expected, but we made steady progress. We were on top of Rocky Peak within an hour and 45 minutes. The view was worth it, although it was very windy. Another group of hikers took our picture for us.

Heading back towards the summit of Giant made us appreciate how steep the trail was towards Rocky Peak, but we took our time and made it safely. Unfortunately, it was about this time that we realized that the cell phone battery was dead, and even once we got back into range, we weren't going to be able to call Mom and tell her that we were going to be four (4) hours late. By now our legs were both sore from such a long hike, so we took it real slow back down the trail to the car.

The total trip was a little over eight (8) miles, and it took us just over 8 hours. On the way home we stopped in Schroon Lake to celebrate with some pizza and mozzarella sticks (but no beer since the pizza place had no alcohol license), and to find a pay phone to call home. Four (4) down; 42 to go.