My relationship with Giant Mountain began eight years ago. That’s when I and my son Aaron, who was 16 at the time, got up early one morning, drove to St. Hubert’s in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks, and scrambled our way up the Roaring Brook trail to the top of this impressive peak. The forecast that day was for sunny skies, so we expected a spectacular view to reward our efforts. But at the top, all we could see was a thick blanket of clouds floating below us. (See first picture below.) We then trekked over to Rocky Peak Ridge, another high peak that sits right next to Giant. When we reached that summit, we were in the middle of a cloud, and visibility was approximately three feet.
Three years later, Aaron and I were joined by my son Alex for a hike up the Ridge Trail to the top of Giant. Again, the forecast was for uninterrupted blue skies, which we did see most of the way up. This spectacular hike traverses a lot of open rock with expansive views that we were able to enjoy. But the higher we climbed, the more humid the air became, and when we got to the top, we were treated to low-hanging clouds and a thick summer haze. We could just barely see the outline of peaks in the distance. (See second picture.) When we hiked to Rocky Peak Ridge, we watched a thundershower roll across Giant’s summit.
I’ve been up part of the Ridge Trail two other times, once in the winter on snowshoes and once in the fall when leaf color was peaking, but on neither occasion did I have the time to get to the top.
I had pretty much decided I would never see an unobstructed, clear view from the summit of Giant Mountain.