Our game-plan was to hike to the summit of Giant, where we would assess whether or not we were up for a second peak, Rocky Peak Ridge. The hike to Giant Mountain is short and misleading. It's only 3 miles to the summit and, for once, that's a fairly close assessment. You hike along the mountain ridge to the summit and, if desired, you can continue along the ridge to Rocky Peak. The problem is that over these 3 short miles you must climb 3000 feet with some pretty challenging sections.
We parked on the side of the road, as there is no defined parking area for the Giant Ridge Trail, changed into our hiking boots and set out. The ascent is fairly immediate and we were huffing and puffing before having gone even a half mile. Early on, the trail is mostly switchbacks. You wind your way up slowly, going back and forth up the mountain. You quickly come to a section of giant boulders in a small ravine that you basically need to hop across. I made short work of this but Katie fell a little behind. I think of rock-hopping as a specialty of mine and always charge at piles of rock full speed. I use the momentum to find balance and move my feet quickly.
At 0.7 miles, you arrive at the Giant's Washbowl. This is a high elevation pond and indicates that you've still got a lot of climbing to do. After the washbowl, you take on even more switchbacks and some very steep trail. After these forested switchbacks, heading out onto some clearcut rock and seeing the view was incredible. The leaves have begun to change and there are plenty of yellows and reds everywhere. I snapped some photos and we continued up. It felt like forever before we finally arrived at another sign indicating that we were just 0.7 miles from the summit.
The closer we got to the top, the more we had to deal with rock scrambles. Most were fairly easy but at least one seemed downright impossible at first glance. We pulled our way up with some trees and roots and branches until we made it over. They were all a little wet and slippery and made for quite a challenge on the way back down. At the 0.7 mile sign, we were already in the clouds. The views were gone and we were surrounded by a cold cloudy haze. Clouds would float right through the trees and chill our bones. I had checked the weather and it indicated a sunny day so I was not prepared for this, wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Katie had a light jacket available but our exertion mainly kept us warm on the way up.
A final sign indicated a 0.1 mile trip to the summit of Giant and a branchoff trail to Rocky Peak Ridge, another 1.2 miles. Katie was already insisting that we not do Rocky Peak, but I hadn't made up my mind yet. We came to the summit, which was fully enshrouded in clouds and hoped that the sun would break through while we ate. We didn't stay long. It was a little breezy and fairly cold at the top, clouds blowing right into us. We got some rest and ate some food and set out again before any of the people who were already there when we arrived got moving.
Back at the Rocky Peak intersection, I tried to convince Katie that we should complete the second high peak. The amount of time we had taken to reach our current position was a bad sign, as completing the second peak would likely leave us descending in the dark. I also realized that if we wanted to come back and do Rocky Peak, we'd have to make this same climb all over again. Katie declined as she was cold and we mistakenly were not equipped with flashlights.
On the way back down, just under the rocky ravine we spotted a deer. Somehow this deer must have been hard of hearing because she didn't notice us until we were about 50 feet away. Of course, we didn't notice her either until she saw us and started sprinting down the mountain. I couldn't believe the speed with which she went downhill. She almost certainly crashed into a tree at some point below our sight-line because her path was a dangerous one.
Also on the way back down, I felt like my socks were rubbing kind of funny on my toe. I could not find my usual hiking socks and so wore an alternative. This turned out to be a big mistake as I have massive blisters on my toes and they look pretty rough.
Some factual info: Giant Mountain used to be called Giant of the Valley. It's the 12th highest high peak with an elevation of 4,626 feet. The trail we took is called Zander Scott Trail. If we had decided to continue to Rocky Peak(and we will have to at some point), we would have made our initial ascent of 3000 feet, descended 800 feet, then ascended 600 feet. Then we would have done the reverse. So when we do Rocky Peak, we will climb a total of 4400 feet (ouch, but can't wait).
