Estimated mileage: 13.5 miles.
Estimated total ascent: 5300 feet
Total trip time: 9h00
Total ADK-46 peaks thus far: 18

The plan for this hike took a number of different forms. It was going to be first over Giant to Rocky and back. Then, as additional people wanted in on the hike, we could use two cars and go over Rocky and Giant one-way from the east. Then, the weather report indicated a better afternoon view, hence the plan became a one-way from the west. Finally, as most of the people who had expressed interest had bailed, the plan became a round-trip from the east to Rocky Peak Ridge.

The hike was with familiar hike companions Chris and Laura. We broke trailhead at 9:00 sharp, but I was not in shape to be out this morning. The day prior, windows were being installed in my house, and this kicked up a lot of dust that worked its way into my lungs. Despite the normal metabolism conversion that I get about 20-minutes into a hike, I felt as if a compactor had my torso locked up. It took a full hour before any signs of relief arrived and another hour before I could cough up a lung into working form. The brisk temperature did not help any with this experience.

This hike was ambitious for me. I had never successfully ascended over 4300 feet before. This would add 1000 to that total. (I will admit to a partial disappointment in not having a one-way trip including Giant.) It helped a lot that the views along the way really brake this ascent up nicely. There was Blueberry Cobbles around 2000', obscuring Bald Mountain but revealing the valley below. Then, when the 3000' Bald Mountain is finally visible (from Mason Mountain), it is not incredibly far away. (It was also at this point that I first saw why Hough Mountain had kicked my rear end when I hiked it early last year. What a profile!) From Bald, one can see Rocky Peak hovering around 4000'. This is perhaps the most daunting leg of the journey, as far as anticipation is concerned; Yet, knowing that it was only another mile over and only another 1000' up lifted my spirits. From there, I knew that it would be mostly ridgeline.

As always, Chris and Laura are great hiking company, even though they are just slightly faster than I am on the trails, we almost always meet up at the breaks and rests along trail. Along the way, we had delicious roast beef and meunster cheese sandwiches as we stopped at the glacial erratic on the ridge. From here, the beautiful valleys first visible at Blueberry Cobbles where now coupled with profiles of several High Peaks. The ridgeline began to get chilly as the chance of a stern crosswind increased. We continued on through to Lake Mary Louise to catch our first real duration of direct sunlight. What a serene location this was; it is perhaps in my favorite 3 non-peak Adirondack locations thus far (the lake on Crane and Avanlanche Lake complete this set--sorry, Chris: the Beckhorn is a close fourth for me).

Almost at Rocky Peak Ridge, I finally decided to exchange my sweat-soaked shorts for a dry pair of jeans. I had to find a rare spot that was on the mostly open alpine zone trail that woud provide both enough windbreak and privacy (more a concern for others than of my own). In fact, I think we had peaked within 5 minutes from that point, and the winds would have begun to cut through me had I not changed. At times, along the ridge, there were rare snowflakes in the air or small caches of melted snow in the shadows of an evergreen. I had seen snow further out, on Marcy and the McIntyres, but I hadn't expected any here for another week or so. Neat.

Arriving at 14:00, we did not stay long at the tall cairn Rocky Peak Ridge--perhaps 10-15 minutes. The slides on Giant are beautiful. Green mountain was anything but green with the fullness of autumn having painted it almost wholly a deep red. The skies were a crisp blue when the half-white and half-deep-gray clouds weren't obscuring it. Overall, it was truly breathtaking (...in a good way, unlike how this trip began). Soon, we headed back down the mountain aiming for a 18:00 arrival at the parking lot. I wouldn't have imagined taking less than 4 hours to return (one more break included, again at the erratic), but we did do it. Yay!

I was surprised that I hadn't felt the pangs of the vertical ascent as I have with previous hikes. This is not to say that I didn't feel achy at all; instead, it is to say that I hadn't begun to slow down until I had expended nearly 3500' of ascent, as compared with days when by that point I would consider myself a cripple. At Rocky Peak Ridge, I had already earned 4700' of ascent. The hardest part on the return was not the additional 600' of ascent distributed gently along the route; instead, it was the long persistent descents which I could not fathom having climbed earlier that same day that had caused me the most discomfort. My lower back will complain about the compressions--although I did remember to do a number of good stretches before settling in for the long drive home.

This hike gave a veritable boost to my confidence in that I might be able to train myself upwards of even 6500' vertical. I might then perhaps be able to conquer the Great Ridge from the back end forward as I hope someday to do.