albee
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On Saturday, I was planning an easy trip to my 45th ADK High Peak - Rocky Peak Ridge. My friend Cory was coming along, and we had originally planned the standard route of going out-and-back by way of Giant Mountain. Giant was my first ADK High Peak in June, 2005, and I was open to the idea of taking a different route than the way I climbed it last time. We studied the map for awhile, and came up with an interesting route that took us up Hopkins Mountain, a 3,150' peak to the west of Giant, then a bushwhack up 3,980' Green Mtn (an ADK 100 peak!) and then up the backside of Giant, over to RPR, back to Giant, and down. The mileage looked moderate - maybe about 13 miles, and the 6,000+ feet of elevation gain sounded like a fun workout. Cory has been wanting to do this bushwhack for awhile, and I'm always up for these kind of adventures, so we spotted his car at the Giant trailhead and headed downhill to Keene Valley to find the trailhead.
We drove past the correct bridge twice before figuring out where the trailhead was. Parking at the Rooster Comb trailhead seemed like the most logical place, so we left my car there, walked the road for 100 yards, and crossed the bridge and went up the trail. The Hopkins Trail looks like a driveway because it is a driveway, but within a couple hundred yards it branches off to the right at a well-marked junction onto a woods road. We both couldn't get over what an awesome trail this was. It had good footing, no mud, steady grades with short steep sections and short flatter sections so you got a nice break from climbing every time you needed it. In 2.7 miles we gained almost 2,200 feet, but it took us just under an hour to reach this spectacular summit. I really can't say enough about the views from this spot. There is a large bald area on the summit that affords a stunning panorama of the High Peaks. We got a unique look up the Ausable Valley and we could particularly see Colvin and Sawteeth from quite a unique angle. I was disappointed that I left my camera in my pack at the start of the spur trail, just 0.2 miles away. They should note views like this on the trail signs... like "Spectacular View Ahead!"...
We headed back down and over some obscure bump on the shoulder of Giant. The trail twists and turns and generally follows a beautiful route over mossy rocks and through really nice forest until it hits a marshy drainage area that indicated we were getting close to the Green-Giant col. (Ho Ho Ho!) We found the trail junction for the route up the north side of Giant, took a compass bearing, and started the bushwhack. The contours looked steep, so we both decided that even though the peak was to the east, we would aim generally uphill and to the west in hopes of gaining the ridge quicker and hoping for a herd path or otherwise open woods. I didn't think it was too bad at first, and we found plenty of open ferny areas and thin bands of thick stuff, but eventually as we neared the summit there were some nasty patches of blowdowns and young Spruce trees. Cory took the lead since I was still a bit more fatigued from backpacking over 20 miles on the previous day, and before long I heard his voice calling out that he had found the summit sign. Somehow while following his voice I wound up in a nasty blowdown mess, and it took about 5 minutes to extricate myself and catch up to him. It had only taken 70 minutes to climb up from the col, so I was pleased that we beat my 75 minute estimate. The trip down took a few minutes shorter, and using my compass definitely helped to stay close to the ridge. We descended to 3,700' and headed due south, eventually picking up our trail at 3,100' - a little over a tenth of a mile west of where we had started the 'whack.
We took a break for a snack, then started the dreaded 1,500' climb up Giant. I was starting to feel stronger by now, and Cory was hard pressed to keep ahead of me on this steep 1.3 mile climb. We topped out to more impressive views and I snapped a few more pictures before we headed to the trail to RPR. On our way down to the col, we came across an old acquaintance of Cory's who is apparently one of the legends of ADK bushwhacking and peakbagging. He made me promise to keep his identity a secret, but he did regale us with stories of night-time bushwhack routes that make use of reflective tape, and monster hikes with names like the "Cirque of Doom". He was out for a crazy hike of his own on this day - up Giant, over to RPR, back to Giant, and down... twice!! What an animal! After chatting for awhile about some of his exploits, we continued on to complete our hike. The trip down to the Giant-RPR col was a little tricky in places... the ADK trails seem to have more steep rock faces to scramble up or down than the trails in New England do. We reached the bottom and climbed up to RPR's breezy summit area. I snapped even more photos and celebrated my 45th high peak. Without furthed ado, we were on our way back to the col for the last 750' climb of the day. It went by quicker and more painlessly than I expected and we began the 2.8 mile long descent down to the car.
There was nothing much to report about this final section, other than there have been 4 or 6 new switchbacks freshly cut into the lower section of the trail. It was very nice to have the smooth, soft dirt under out feer after all that rock-hopping of the last couple hours. We retired to the Noon Mark Diner again for dinner and ice cream, and I found my bunk in The Hostel across the street for an unsatisfying sleep in the hot and noisy bunkroom. 2 of my fellow bunk-room-mates were planning to finish their 46 within the next few weeks as well. One more day, one more hike, and one more peak, and I will be finished!
We drove past the correct bridge twice before figuring out where the trailhead was. Parking at the Rooster Comb trailhead seemed like the most logical place, so we left my car there, walked the road for 100 yards, and crossed the bridge and went up the trail. The Hopkins Trail looks like a driveway because it is a driveway, but within a couple hundred yards it branches off to the right at a well-marked junction onto a woods road. We both couldn't get over what an awesome trail this was. It had good footing, no mud, steady grades with short steep sections and short flatter sections so you got a nice break from climbing every time you needed it. In 2.7 miles we gained almost 2,200 feet, but it took us just under an hour to reach this spectacular summit. I really can't say enough about the views from this spot. There is a large bald area on the summit that affords a stunning panorama of the High Peaks. We got a unique look up the Ausable Valley and we could particularly see Colvin and Sawteeth from quite a unique angle. I was disappointed that I left my camera in my pack at the start of the spur trail, just 0.2 miles away. They should note views like this on the trail signs... like "Spectacular View Ahead!"...
We headed back down and over some obscure bump on the shoulder of Giant. The trail twists and turns and generally follows a beautiful route over mossy rocks and through really nice forest until it hits a marshy drainage area that indicated we were getting close to the Green-Giant col. (Ho Ho Ho!) We found the trail junction for the route up the north side of Giant, took a compass bearing, and started the bushwhack. The contours looked steep, so we both decided that even though the peak was to the east, we would aim generally uphill and to the west in hopes of gaining the ridge quicker and hoping for a herd path or otherwise open woods. I didn't think it was too bad at first, and we found plenty of open ferny areas and thin bands of thick stuff, but eventually as we neared the summit there were some nasty patches of blowdowns and young Spruce trees. Cory took the lead since I was still a bit more fatigued from backpacking over 20 miles on the previous day, and before long I heard his voice calling out that he had found the summit sign. Somehow while following his voice I wound up in a nasty blowdown mess, and it took about 5 minutes to extricate myself and catch up to him. It had only taken 70 minutes to climb up from the col, so I was pleased that we beat my 75 minute estimate. The trip down took a few minutes shorter, and using my compass definitely helped to stay close to the ridge. We descended to 3,700' and headed due south, eventually picking up our trail at 3,100' - a little over a tenth of a mile west of where we had started the 'whack.
We took a break for a snack, then started the dreaded 1,500' climb up Giant. I was starting to feel stronger by now, and Cory was hard pressed to keep ahead of me on this steep 1.3 mile climb. We topped out to more impressive views and I snapped a few more pictures before we headed to the trail to RPR. On our way down to the col, we came across an old acquaintance of Cory's who is apparently one of the legends of ADK bushwhacking and peakbagging. He made me promise to keep his identity a secret, but he did regale us with stories of night-time bushwhack routes that make use of reflective tape, and monster hikes with names like the "Cirque of Doom". He was out for a crazy hike of his own on this day - up Giant, over to RPR, back to Giant, and down... twice!! What an animal! After chatting for awhile about some of his exploits, we continued on to complete our hike. The trip down to the Giant-RPR col was a little tricky in places... the ADK trails seem to have more steep rock faces to scramble up or down than the trails in New England do. We reached the bottom and climbed up to RPR's breezy summit area. I snapped even more photos and celebrated my 45th high peak. Without furthed ado, we were on our way back to the col for the last 750' climb of the day. It went by quicker and more painlessly than I expected and we began the 2.8 mile long descent down to the car.
There was nothing much to report about this final section, other than there have been 4 or 6 new switchbacks freshly cut into the lower section of the trail. It was very nice to have the smooth, soft dirt under out feer after all that rock-hopping of the last couple hours. We retired to the Noon Mark Diner again for dinner and ice cream, and I found my bunk in The Hostel across the street for an unsatisfying sleep in the hot and noisy bunkroom. 2 of my fellow bunk-room-mates were planning to finish their 46 within the next few weeks as well. One more day, one more hike, and one more peak, and I will be finished!
