Giant Mountain
4,627 ft. | Ranked 12/46 in height | 7th peak climbed (repeat)
4,627 ft. | Ranked 12/46 in height | 7th peak climbed (repeat)
In 2015, we spent a long weekend in Keene Valley, at a rental house with a direct view of Giant Mountain. Frankie, who was four at the time, immediately declared that he wanted to climb "that mountain." He was not remotely discouraged when we told him it is a very hard hike. Over the course of the weekend, and continuing back at home afterwards, Frankie repeatedly expressed his desire to climb Giant. He talked about it persistently, adorably calling it "Gigantic" for a while. He was not to be deterred. I didn't want to rush into to anything though - Giant actually is pretty gigantic. I have taken Frankie hiking pretty regularly his whole life, but they were/are typically short hikes close to home, hikes without significant elevation gain. At that point he had climbed only very small Adirondack mountains fully under his own power: Bald Mountain and Mount Jo. His longest hikes had been a pair of four milers, in Tuscany and at Highland Forest. Nothing remotely comparable to a High Peak.
I proposed a deal: I would take Frankie up Giant, on the condition that he "train" first. Then, he would have to climb Cascade, to give him a better understanding of what he was proposing to undertake. [While significantly easier than Giant, both shorter in distance and with less elevation change, Cascade is still a High Peak and is a better litmus for enjoying Giant than Jo or Bald.] If he had fun on Cascade and still wanted to climb Giant, then I would know he was ready. That fall, while he was still four, Frankie and I hiked two more small Adirondack mountains, Kane and Blue, both part of the Fire Tower Challenge. Kane is another short, easy hike, but Blue was a definite step up in difficulty. He had fun and handled it well. We kept "training" at a low level in 2016, hiking Spruce Mountain in the spring, and several hikes in Scotland, including Arthur's Seat, and the more challenging Quiraing and Coire Lagan. At the end of the summer, we went up Cascade, Mount Gilligan, and Mount Van Hoevenberg on three consecutive days. Cascade was a huge success!
And that settled it: Frankie was still interested in Giant, so we would hike it together in 2017.
We kept "training" this year, too, hiking Cathedral Rock for a first winter fire tower, and completing the Fulton Chain Trifecta this summer. We also hiked a lot in Europe, including some more challenging trails where Frankie set new distance records: Hoher Kranzberg and Wank in the Bavarian Alps, and the Puez-Odle Altopiano in the Dolomites. By now, I felt completely comfortable taking Frankie up in the High Peaks. I still wanted to get an early start on a day with nice weather, but I knew he could handle the hike under the right conditions. We deferred a day due to the less than ideal weather yesterday, but the forecast for today looked very good. The time was finally at hand! Unfortunately, Erwin decided he'd had enough climbing on Poke-o-Moonshine yesterday, and bailed on the Giant hike. I initially thought that might discourage Frankie, but again, he was not to be deterred. He stuck to his guns. No problem! The two of us would go it alone.
I set the alarm clock, and Frankie did his best to eat a quick breakfast, drinking milk in the car on the drive to the trailhead to pre-hydrate. We discussed a turn around time at great length, so he knew we might turn back without reaching the summit, and that would be OK. Despite it being the Friday of Labor Day weekend, there were only two cars at the trailhead when we arrived. We signed the register and started hiking up before 8 am. It was pretty cold, but I brought a lot of layers. We putzed along cheerfully, and reached the first ledge with a view in about an hour.
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| beautiful views already |
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| the trailhead along Route 73 is already far below, down by Chapel Pond |
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| having fun |
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| Round Mountain, Chapel Pond, Giant's Nubble |
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| Giant's Washbowl |
We sat on the bridge briefly, but the wind was ferocious here, too, funneling over the water surface and blasting us in the face. A good reason to keep moving: upward, ever upward.
We reached another viewpoint, higher now, but warmer, more sheltered. We stopped for pictures and a small snack. Chapel Pond was no longer visible; now the pond we were looking down at was Giant's Washbowl. Visible progress. Gobsmacking views.
Then some more up. Frankie was loving the the open slab rock, the scrambles. He can seemingly scurry up anything now with ease, and was moving much faster here than he had been in the woods. I had to ask him to slow down so I could spot him, if necessary, but he never actually needed assistance.
Or maybe it just felt like he was going faster because I was so busy gawking at the views. We took another break to enjoy the scene and have a more substantial snack. We continued to discuss the turnaround time and whether we'd make it. We had covered about 1.9 miles by then in about 3.5 hours, slow going, but tons of fun. Frankie was optimistic, confident.
Immediately upon moving again, we came to the Around Bump-Over Bump choose-your-own-adventure intersection. Mindful of the turnaround time, Frankie elected to go around the bump. Shortly after that, we passed the junction with the Roaring Book Trail, and a sign indicating we were just 0.7 miles from the summit. I was surprised because I thought we still had almost another full mile to go. The grades eased as we gained a shoulder, passing through trees draped with lichen. Soon we saw a glimpse of the true summit through the trees. So close!
It was comforting knowing this up was the last up. Almost there! Frankie scrambled up a few more rock faces like a spider, and then we popped out at the summit.
After checking out the benchmark, we found a rocky ledge to relax and enjoy the summit.
We ate and put on some extra layers and took pictures. Giant's summit is a lovely spot for lunch. Then we put on more layers and ate more food and took more pictures.
Then we noticed how truly cold we were. It was the wind again, very windy day. I started pulling out more layers, but rather than struggle into them, Frankie suggested we just descend a bit. Smart kid! He could eat his cookie on one of the many scenic spots on the way back down.
Getting out of the worst of the wind and moving again warmed us right up, and we soon had to pause to shed layers. And to snack, of course. And to dance.
When we got back to the Around Bump-Over Bump option, Frankie was coy about making the choice. I told him it was fine to go around the bump again if he was tired. He went through a charade insisting I choose a hand from behind his back, right or left; when I arbitrarily selected one, he declared that I'd picked to go over the bump. So over we went...
After rejoining the around-bump branch, we continued down the slab rock and back into the woods, finally making it back to Giant's Washbowl.
Last push, just 0.7 miles left to the car. We paused at the first ledge and looked down at Route 73, thinking maybe we saw my car peeking through the trees. Frankie was tired by now, moving slower and slower, but still cheerful. Slowly... slowly.
As he was creeping along in exhaustion, Frankie said that he wished he were reading in bed; then stuttering to correct himself, he said that he wished he were in the Mountaineer buying his patch. He really wanted to do both, and he was ready. Luckily we were almost back. I promised we'd go straightaway to buy the patch, then we would meet Erwin for dinner at the Noonmark. Finally we spied the register, signed out, and climbed in the car. I gave Frankie a celebratory lollipop
As I was driving into Keene Valley, Frankie obsessed about that patch. He mentioned seeing a Marcy benchmark and wanted to know if they had one for Giant, too. I told him we could ask, and of course I ended up buying him both. So proud of this kid!
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| at the Noonmark with his bling |
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