Region: Adirondacks

Level: Moderate/Difficult

Well folks this was a doozy, a day filled with sweltering heat and high winds, topped off by a visit to a local urgent care.

As the more athletic and extreme hiker of this burgeoning site, I took it upon myself to take the more challenging of the two trails to the peak (Kyle trekked Giant about a year ago via Roaring Brook). Needless to say Ridge Trail was dominated by jagged rock paths and precipitous sheer boulders. From the jump you’re thrust into steep rock ascents, surrounded by treacherous terrain on all sides and within tens of minutes beads of sweat will scour your flushed face.

As the trail name so eloquently describes, you are rarely in the woods and mostly hiking up switch backs and ridge lines creating bountiful excitement and euphoric stimulation through soul shaking views. There is an abundance of viewpoints of famous and quaintly named Chapel Pond and Giant Washbowl, two magnificent water ways with deep rich Adirondack history and allure.

Giant Mountain is the 12th highest peak and is widely known as one of the most dangerous of the 46 peaks despite it being one of the shortest and most accessible trails. There are numerous access points to popular rock formations that challenge even the most experienced climbers. On this day all rock climbing areas were closed however that certainly did not deter me from going hardcore parkour and risking life and limb for some cheap thrills.

As this blog comes to an end I must address something with our readers as I have always pledged to be an open and honest man. I did get lost about 20 minutes in as markers were not obvious and just stood, spinning around and around wondering where my life went wrong. This was also when I realized my wrist had been breached by an unidentified object leaving a large black hole and “debris” underneath. REMINDER, bring a knife, you don’t want to get stuck digging into your body with recently cut finger nails, teeth, and dull sticks. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, I finished this hike in 3-3.5 hours but would recommend stretching it to 5-6 hours to really embrace the plethora of advantageous rest areas. 

-Tyler