Giant Mountain via the Ridge Trail - 6/6/25
Today was Day 2 with @sekoshan as she prepares for a long hike down in Peru. I guided her up Giant Mountain along the Ridge Trail today. Compared to yesterday, today was far more humid, wet, and cloudy. But we still had a great time on the trail!
5.8 miles, 3000 ft of elevation gain, 6 hours car-to-car.
No warm-up like we had yesterday on Colden! This trail is steep from the beginning, rising 600 feet in the first .5 miles to a lookout. You do nearly 1000 feet of elevation gain for each of the 3 miles to the summit, popping in and out of the woods onto the rocky ridges. It’s one of my favorite routes because you get views all the way up!
The trail was in superb condition on the way up. Mud and blowdown was basically a non-issue. We were way more wet from sweating in the muggy weather than any water/mud on the trail.
Clouds rolled in just as we were reaching the summit, but we got a short window view down into the valley before getting socked in. We knew rain was imminent and that the descent would be harder on wet rock, we opted not to continue to Rocky Peak Ridge, saving our legs for the McIntyre Range tomorrow.
Rain did indeed start coming down about halfway back to the car. It soaked the rock quickly, and we took our time to avoid slipping. Rain coats went on to avoid getting chilly and it was quite pleasant.
Bugs were out, but not too bad. Some swarms knew the summit, but nothing a little bug spray couldn’t handle. The mosquitos kept biting through the rain.
We saw 17 people on the trail, with a few still headed up as we were coming down.
Timeline:
- 6:45am - Started from Route 73
- 7:30am - Giant’s Washbowl
- 9:00am - Roaring Brook/Ridge Trail Crossover
- 9:45am - Giant Summit (3 hours)
- 10:15am - Left the summit
- 11:00am - Roaring Brook/Ridge Trail Crossover
- 12:15am - Giant’s Washbowl
- 12:45am - Returned to the trailhead (6 hours)