We drove to the trailhead for the camping site and loaded our packs with the gear we’d need for overnight. It was only a 20-minute hike on a gentle, uphill grade to the site on Round Pond and we found it empty and pitched our tents and gathered some firewood for after our climb. We headed back to the car and drove the mile to the trailhead for Giant Mountain.
Giant is not the tallest peak in the Adirondacks, but gets its name from its mammoth size. It dominates the horizon in this part of the Adirondacks and from its clear peak; you can see almost all of the major peaks to the west, as well as the Green Mountains of Vermont to the east. A fire in 1913 destroyed many of the trees on the mountain and much of the trail to the peak remains barren to this day...making it an excellent peak to climb if you’re looking for a view.
There are three approaches to the peak and I had chosen the shortest, which automatically makes it the steepest. The group would find themselves climbing 3,000 vertical feet in 3 miles...numbers that were meaningless to them as we began, but which would become apparent rather quickly. There were many hikers headed for the peak on this perfect climbing day, weather in the seventies and clear, blue skies. We jumped off in front of a group of 12 or so hikers who appeared to be college age. Six boys sprinted past us over the first couple hundred yards of the trail, which was quite vertical.
“We’ll see them again soon,” I said to Heidi as I watched them moving up, one in blue jeans.
Ten minutes later, we passed them sitting on rocks just off the trail trying to catch their collective breaths. The first half mile of the climb gains altitude at an unrelenting pace. The tortoise pace is the sensible one. We reached an outcropping with magnificent views after 20 minutes of hiking and stopped for 10 minutes to take pictures and enjoy the view.
Once back on the trail and behind the aggressive college boys again, we took our time and climbed the open, steep sections with caution stopping often to take more pictures. Savannah was extremely happy with her new hiking shoes; they seemed to be gripping well. I was very pleased with my old, rehabbed shoes, as well. I felt like Spider Man...stuck to the side of the mountain...and climbed with complete confidence that I wouldn’t slip. I never did.
After two hours of a steady uphill climb, the group began to wonder out loud about ever making it to the top. As the only person ever having been there, I was expected to remember every twist in the trail and to know the exact time of arrival at the peak. I didn’t and was scorned, which really doesn’t bother me since I love every minute of the climb. We finally summated almost 3 hours after we’d started and found about 20 people already there. It’s a broad, expansive peak with plenty of nooks and boulder where one could drop down and enjoy the views and get some serenity. Heidi and I tend to drop down on some shelf close to an edge with a severe drop, which means we’ll have it to ourselves since it’s not for the faint of heart. We ate our lunch in such a place while Savannah, Kyle, and Jack took what they believed to be a more sensible perch.
We spent an hour on the peak before beginning our descent. I knew it would take over 2 hours after which we would have to go to Chapel Pond for a dip and clean-up before we could proceed to the Noonmark Diner for dinner. Since we were starting down at 3 p.m., we’d need to move quickly right through to dinner since afterwards we’d need to return to our campsite without flashlights...something we’d wisely left with our tents.
After Jack consumed two dinners and half a dozen Clif bars, we reached the trailhead for the campsite. It was near dark at 7:30 p.m. and we moved with caution for the mile hike. Once at our site, I began to gather more firewood and some bark from a birch tree I’d use as a starter. I showed Jack and Kyle my style of fire building...putting my firewood into piles based on size, from the very smallest tinder I’d use to get it going, to the larger pieces that would fuel it for the night. They were quite impressed with the combustibility of the birch bark, which burns like paper, but more slowly.
Kyle and I spent the next couple of hours stoking the fire and getting to know each other a little better while the other weary hikers slept. I was tired, but knew that I’d likely only sleep about 7 hours and didn’t want to be up before dawn. My 10 p.m. I was in my tent, reading my journal from previous climbs. We’d spent about 7 hours on the trail that day and after only three hours sleep, I was beat.
Hike workout: 7 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 80-150 bpm.
Calories burned: 4,000.
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