May 30, 2021

Start/End: Roaring Brook Trailhead, Rt. 73

Peaks: Giant (4,627')

Elevation Gain: 3,300 ft

RT Mileage: 6.8 mi

Duration: 6 hours, 28 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

We went camping in the Adirondacks for Memorial Day weekend, so we decided to bag a High Peak on one of the days. Our last major hike was in August 2020, nine months ago, so we opted for one of the easier High Peaks. We ended up choosing Giant Mtn via Roaring Brook Trail, which is just your average Class 1 below-treeline hike.

After a quick warmup hike on Goodnow Mtn (not a High Peak) in perfect weather the day before, we woke up one overcast Sunday morning at around 7:30 AM. After about a 10-minute drive to the trailhead, we began hiking at around 9:00. The trail starts off as a wide, flat path through the woods. 0.1 miles in, it forks between the Roaring Brook Trail to the left and the spur trail to the Roaring Brook Falls to the right. Obviously, we went left. About another half mile in, you have the option to go about 100 feet off the trail to the upper viewpoint of the waterfall. We decided to save this for the descent.

Another half mile in, the trail forks again and you have the option to go off-route 1.1 miles to the Nubble, a short but prominent subsidiary peak of Giant. We decided to save this for the descent too, but we ended up not doing it at all. The next mile or so is a steady gradual incline, staying close to the Roaring Brook. Much of this bit was just a simple staircase, but we aren't in the best shape at the moment so we were still pretty slow. About halfway into the hike, it began raining and we briefly contemplated turning back.

The trail steepens at around 2,400 ft, veering away from the Roaring Brook. The light rain was more of a blessing than a curse since this is a nontechnical trail and the rain prevented us from becoming uncomfortably warm. As the deciduous greenery changed to coniferous above 3,000 ft, we knew we were starting to get close. It was a steady 20-25% incline from here until the ridge.

This bit of the trail included no switchbacks, except at the very end, so we had to take it pretty slow. We finally gained the ridge at 3,800 ft, with 800 vertical feet still to go. It became noticeably colder above 4,000 ft, so the raincoat and mittens went on. It was already in the low 40s/upper 30s here, and we became a bit concerned about icy conditions higher up. A descending hiker confirmed that frozen precipitation was indeed falling at the summit, but assured us that the trail wasn't icy.

The trail once again steepens a bit for the last couple hundred vertical feet. I wouldn't exactly describe this as scrambling, but we did need to use our hands a couple of times. After gaining this last steep bit it was just easy walking to the summit. We summited just after 1:00 PM, after averaging about an hour per mile on the way up.

The summit of Giant is wooded and wouldn't have 360° views anyway, but Mt. Marcy and many of the other High Peaks would have been visible over the ledge to the west. Unfortunately, even that wasn't possible because of the rain (freezing rain/sleet at the summit). We didn't spend too long at the summit because of the bad weather and began descending. The descent was pretty uneventful. Near the bottom, we did end up visiting the upper viewpoint of the falls though. From there it was just a quick jaunt to the trailhead, and we were back down by 3:30 PM.