The Seward Range - The Good, The Painful, The Muddy and the Terrifying

Order in Ranking Seward Mountain 24, Mount Donaldson 33, and Mount Emmons 40

This past weekend marked the final climb of the season for Stephanie and I.  We had originally planned to do a guided day-hike with the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) but at the last minute, we received an email stating that we would only do 2 (Donaldson and Emmons) of the 3 summits in the range.

Normally we'd roll with the punches, but this was a bit of a big deal.  You see, Steph was at 20 summits, having decided not to push through and summit Rocky during August.  We really had our hearts set on being halfway through the 46 High Peaks at the end of this season.  So we dropped out of the guided hike, and decided to do it on our own.

We drove down on the Friday night, had supper in Tupper Lake (Pine Grove Restaurant on Route 3 is lovely.  I recommend it if you're in the area) and then parked at the trailhead on Coreys Road.  We were all set to car camp - fairly easy when you have an SUV with back seats that flatten down.  We got cozy, had a plastic cup of wine, then rolled ourselves up in our sleeping bags and went to sleep.

We were up early the next day, and were on our way by 6:45.  There are two trails that lead from the trailhead, and we took the one straight on from the register (in fact, we never saw the other path)  In hindsight - this may have been a horse path, as the first 1.2/1.4 miles (there's some dissension here - the book says 1.2, the signs say 1.4) was incredibly muddy, but fairly flat.  I had to do a quick sock change early on, as I got a soaker, but otherwise it was uneventful.

Turn right.  Follow the horse!

Upon reaching the junction with the tote road, the problems started, so let me just say now:
- Yes, avoid the horse trail, BUT the sign that points to the right, with the horse head on it?  Follow that.  Turn right, and follow the tote road 3 miles to the Calkins Creek Trail, which will be on your left.

So we turned left, figuring we wanted to avoid the other horse trail, that roughly parallels the Ward Brook Trail.  We should have turned right, which would have taken us to the Calkins Brook Trail.

So I'm going to describe the Ward Brook trail, just so you don't accidentally take it. Trust me, you don't want to.

The first 300 or so yards are on the tote road, at which point you come to a metal gate, with two paths leading in opposite directions.  (If you hit this gate, turn around and go the other direction for Calkins Brook)  We turned right, and followed the path.  (The left path takes you back to the trailhead.  You may come out to the tote road here, in which case - turn right and keep walking)

It was quite easy, very rolling with gentle ups and downs.  There were about 5 or  6 brooks to cross -all stone hopping.  One had a bridge at one point, but it is now down to one log.  It was much easier to stone hop over than attempt the log.

Blueberry Lean-to

At 9:30, we reached Blueberry Lean-To - it was empty, but well-kept.  (If you're planning on staying, there's a rake, a shovel, a broom, a frying pan, someone even left a pen and some crossword puzzles!)  We took a break, used the outhouse (didn't smell great, but what outhouse does?) and kept going.

We went over two bridges; almost immediately after the second one we found the cairn marking the route to Seward Mountain.

The route up Seward was rough, wet, and muddy.  We followed the stream for a little ways over rolling terrain – it wasn’t terribly difficult, but it was serpentine and rose and fell as it went along.  About a half hour after we turned off the tote road, the trail began to climb in earnest. 

Up Seward - wet and rough

It was at first not too steep, but incredibly wet – I’m still not sure if we were actually in the stream, or if the trail was just unusually wet as it had been a very wet week.   We felt it was similar to the lower sections of Lower Wolf Jaw, really.  But it began to get steeper and steeper – rivalling the steep section on the way to Haystack (where you climb 878 feet in 1 mile)

At any rate, it was wet and slippery, and we got angry and yelled at the mountain, and vowed to never, ever again hike this trail.  We climbed for what felt like hours.  (In fact, it was – we started the trail around 10:00, and didn’t summit until 1:15)  We hiked ourselves up tree trunks and roots, shimmied ourselves up massive ledges, and if you want some bouldering practise, there’s that too.

We finally got to the end of the grind, and gained the summit ridge.  We were so busy celebrating and chatting, that we kept walking until the trail started to descend.  We figured we had missed the summit marker, and doubled back to find it.  (Thus starting a 10 minute fruitless search.)  We finally gave up, figuring we must have missed it, but confident that we had indeed summited Seward.

Turns out the summit was past this point – the trail descended slightly, before ascending again to the true summit of Seward – marked not only with a small yellow disk, but also a brown sign with “Seward Mountain” on it in yellow.  Have no fears – you will not miss this summit.  It's on the trail, not off to the side like Donaldson, or Emmons.

You cannot miss this sign.

We took our pictures, and started out again towards Donaldson.  The trail was steep and rocky, but a breeze to scooch down.  We met two groups heading up to Seward, including one who was finishing their 46. We descended to the col, then started up again towards Donaldson, (not as steep this time, but just as rocky) passing the cairn marking the path to Calkins Creek Trail.

Just past this cairn, after about a 15 to 20 minute walk, we hit the summit of Donaldson, just off to the left of the trail, where a large group (possibly the ADK led group) was taking a breather.  We quickly snapped our photos and ran on, as it was 2:20 already.

The trail to Emmons was incredibly muddy and wet.  There were portions of up and down, and lots of  lowering ourselves up and down rocks.  It was on the way to Emmons, disaster struck.  I slipped on the mud and cracked my knee (thankfully no breaking anything, other than skin) hard on a root/branch/rock – I still have no idea.  I popped two Advil, and we kept running.  Then Steph got stuck – her arm bent at an unnatural angle, her pole was caught between two rocks as she was lowering herself down.  I kicked her pole, and it popped free.  At this point, near tears, we asked ourselves, “Is it worth it?” 

There was no way we were turning back.  We decided our problem had been that we were rushing, and not going our pace, so if we scaled it back….we’d get there in one piece.  Bruised, battered and bleeding, but we’d get there.  We ran into another two-person team, threatened them with bodily harm if they didn’t tell us how far to the summit, and kept going.

Climbing up to Emmons

We rounded a corner and there before us was Emmons…….and man did it look far away.  But, we told ourselves, it’s the Nippletop syndrome – what looks to be miles away, is in reality incredibly close.  We pressed on, but with one caveat – that no matter what, at 4:00 we would turn around.  If that meant not summitting Emmons, so be it.

We walked and walked, wondering how much further, how much further, how much further.  The trail started to twist around, almost going in circles it felt like, and I could feel that the summit was near.  Indeed, around one last corner, and up a small rocky incline was the summit of Emmons.  We did our now-traditional shot of whiskey (missed on both Seward and Donaldson in our rush) and sat down for some food.  At this point, we had only taken two or three quick breaks for food.

At 3:40, we were up and back on the trail, tracing our path back to the cairn for Calkins Creek.  We got back to the cairn around 4:45, and took a quick break to change socks and pants (taking off our muddied and soaked hiking pants to put on rain gear over our thermal long johns).  We were back to hiking at 4:55.

Calkins Creek trail is beautiful.  It’s a very gentle grade (at least going down – we didn’t find our toes jammed into the toe of our boots) and very spongy, great after hiking on rock.  It is a little monotonous – there’s really nothing to say other than – it keeps going down/up, is very nice to walk on and is very easy to follow.

We crossed two streams before having to pull out of headlamps around 6:30.  Thankfully (the only time I will say this) the trail was fairly muddy, so it was easy to follow in the dark.  We did have a spot of panic when we came to a river crossing, with high water and few good places to ford.  This is right before the end/start of the herdpath (although we didn’t know that at the time).  We calmed ourselves, looked for the cairns (there are cairns on both sides) and then rock hopped over the river. (We were less concerned at this point about getting our feet wet).

We quickly afterwards came to the old lumber/tote road that leads back to the trail to the parking lot.  This calmed a lot of our fears, as it’s easy to follow a road (no matter how old or disused) than a herdpath through the forest.  But of course, this is the point that it started to rain.

The road was a fairly gentle ascent (descent if you’re on your way up) which annoyed us as we just wanted the climbing to be over.  We kept walking at a pretty brisk pace (it was 1.5 hours between the start of the tote road and the parking lot – so 4.4 miles, roughly).  We reached the junction with the trail we had taken from the parking lot, and followed it (now even muddier and wet) back.  We hit the car at 8:23.  (I literally hugged it, Steph hugged the trail register)

Muddy leg on Emmons

So, in summary:

From the register:  there are two trails - follow whichever, but the one straight on is rough.
- Upon junction, TURN RIGHT.  You will either walk 3.3, or 3 miles, depending on which trail you took from the register.
- At cairn-on-pedestal, turn left (it's the only way to turn) for Calkins Creek Trail
- Cross 3 streams/rivers
- Hit trail between Seward/Donaldson
- Turn left to get to Seward (roughly 1 - 1.5 hours one way), right to get to Donaldson (about 15 - 20 minutes)

Total climbing time: 13 hours and 41 minutes

Left trailhead at: 6:42, returned at 8:23

Summitted Seward at 1:15, Dondaldson at 2:20, Emmons at 3:30
Left Emmons at 3:40, hit cairn at 4:50

The Most Epic of Plans to Ever Plan

Recently, I took a ride in a biplane from the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.  I have this thing about aircraft - I'm kind of in love with flying over things in small aircraft.  I love the adventure of it, and I'd never been in a biplane before.  It wasn't cheap - $85 for 15 minutes, I believe, but it was an incredibly experience. 

This renewed a thought my BF had had previously:  to get his pilot's licence.  Nothing fancy, he has no designs on flying a 747, but a private pilots license (ppl) has been an idea of his for a while.

So the other night, he says to me...the Ottawa Flying Club does introductory flights for $150.  What do you think?  (He doesn't say a lot, does my man.)  As I said, I like flying over things in small aircraft, so I was all for doing an introductory flight.  My BF explained that he'd like to get his private pilots license, and then maybe we could take some trips to places that it is extremely expensive to visit - like say the Canadian north. 

All of this sounded great to me (really, I didn't need the explanation, I was all for flying) so we set up our intro flights for this weekend, and started to dream.

This is maybe where things went a little....far.

The other night, while enjoying a pint, the BF starts telling me about information he's been reading, and blogs that he has found.  It turns out that a) you can fly from Ottawa to Iceland in a Cessna (obviously making stops along the way) and b) someone flew themselves to Africa from North America. 

Which pretty much settled it for me:  Why not do that ourselves?  (I have never done things halfway, and I have always run before I could walk - ask my mother.  I went from crawling to running; I skated backwards before I could skate forwards; I'm planning a trip around the world before I have a ppl).

So after much near-drunken exclamations about how cool it would be, we have decided:  Our ten year plan is to:

* learn to fly, and acquire, our private pilots licenses.
* save up and buy an airplane - 2-seater at minimum, 4-seater a possibility
* take a year off work, then fly ourselves around the world.

It's a long range plan:  We need to first get our licenses (the license itself is free, however the cost of renting a plane means that the average person pays $10000-15000), and then save up to buy our own plane.  And considering what we wish to do, we'd rather get a newer plane.  Not even taking into consideration that learning how to maintain the plane would also be a beneficial course of action.

Now, thankfully a cousin of mine is an aircraft mechanic at a small airport, so we can pick his brain for an idea of what kind of maintaince an airplane of that size will need in a one year time frame (considering how much it will be flown).

This is my "OH MY GOD THIS WILL BE EPIC! face

Ottawa's Micro-Brews

Ottawa, and area, has quite a few micro-breweries, if you know where to look.  Luckily, I do know where to look so I'm going to help you out, and give you a few ideas of where to hit up.  A few things to remember:  the drinking age in Ontario is 19, and drinking and driving is just a stupid, idiotic thing to do.  Take public transit, walk, take a taxi or have a dedicated driver.

First up is our not-so micro-brewery breweries.  Mill Street was started up originally in Toronto in 2002, and opened up a brew pub/restaurant located in an old mill just off of downtown a few years ago.  It's remarkably easy to get to by walking, and a wonderful walk along the way.  Head down Wellington street, past Parliament Hill, and the Supreme Court.  It's the old stone building just across the street, on the banks of the Ottawa River.  It can get busy for dinner, but if you go around 3 or 4, for pre-dinner snacks and a pint, it's easy to get a table.  I'm a fan of their Tankhouse and Organic beer.

3 Brewers (or Les Trois Brasseurs) is a new import in Ottawa.  Originally started in Quebec, they have very recently, within the past year, opened up two new brewpubs in Ottawa.  One is conveniently located at the corner of Sparks and Bank Streets.  This place is very busy for lunch - they open at 11:30, and are packed by 11:45.  But if you delay arriving until 1:00, the place has thinned out as the public servants return to work.  Their flammekueche are excellent (I love their Moulin Rouge and Italian versions) and so are the burgers.  They often have a seasonal beer on tap as well.

Lastly is another brewpub chain in Ottawa, the Clocktower.  There are 4 locations in Ottawa - one in Westboro, one downtown in the Market, one in New Edinburgh and one in the Glebe (with the clocktower, and where the brew house is located).  I like their Bytown Brown and their Clocktower Red beers.  They've also got delicious food.

There are a few straight breweries in and around Ottawa. Just out of town to the east is Beau's All Natural Brewery Company (aka Beau's) in Vankleek Hill (directions available on their web page).  They have tours, a patio in the summer, and celebrate Oktoberfest in October (because when else?)  Best part, if you're here for Oktoberfest, is that they have a shuttle from Ottawa.  If you can't get out their brewery, you can still support them by buying a pint in one of the many pubs and restaurants around town that carry it.  Try a Lug-tread!

Hidden just north of Westboro is the Kichesippi Brewery, at 866 Campbell Ave.  They offer free tours Saturdays at 2 pm. Bus 85 will take you close.

Because of course, there's a brewery, Big Rig, owned by a local NHL player, Chris Phillips.  Located near the IKEA, in Ottawa's west end, it does take a bit to get to.  Take bus 94 to Iris, or buses 93 or 96 to Pinecrest and walk towards the giant IKEA signs.  You can also take bus 67 to Greenbank/Iris.  There's a restaurant attached to the brewery where you can enjoy some food with your microbrew.

Beyond the Pale is another small brewery located in Hintonburg (to the east of Westboro), at 5 Hamilton Ave.  They open at 12 on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.  All of the 90 series buses will take you to Tunney's Pasture bus stop, the brewery is located a few blocks north.

Out in the south end is Broadhead Brewing Company, difficult to get to without a car, although bus route 116 will get you close.  I just found out about this company, and I'm eager to try their beer.  They have tours Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m, but they do mention emailing them to set up a tour.

And lastly, there's Hogsback Brewing Company.  The trick with this company is that they don't have their own brewery - they contract out to various local craft brewers.  So you can't actually visit their brewery, although you can try their beers in many local pubs.

 There are other breweries located outside of Ottawa.  I haven't visited them all, but a local newspaper, The Ottawa Citizen had a great review of 5 breweries located just outside of the city.

Ottawa Year-Round

I've been living in Ottawa for quite a while now (I moved here when I was 18) and I have to say that as a city to live in, it's fantastic.  To visit......maybe not so much.  Or rather - there's plenty to do here, but we don't really advertize that fact.  Because Ottawa is like an apartment that you finally got the way you like it, so you go out to the parties, but don't ever throw any at home, because then something would get broken, and you'd just have to clean up after other people, and who wants that trouble?

I'm breaking that rule.
 
Apart from the museums, and Parliament Hill, what do we have in Ottawa year round?  Other than just hitting up a random bar (not a bad plan) what is there to do to wile away the hours of the evening?  I've got just the things.....

Have you ever wanted to party in a  museum, shaped like a castle, and full of bones?  If you're over 19 (the drinking age in Ontario), one Friday a month the Canadian Museum of Nature hosts "Nature Nocturne" a dance party in the museum itself.  Tickets cost $20; and the museum is easy to get to from downtown (bus routes 1, 5, 7, 14, or walk along the canal).

TimeKode, also on Fridays (the third Friday of every month) features music, turntables and dancing.  

Spins & Needles is great for those of you who craft and love music.  Why not combine the two?  If you don't have a craft on the go, or didn't bring one with you, they often provide material for something there.  In the same vein, every Tuesday night, Raw Sugar Cafe hosts Beats and Boards - Djs with a side of board games.  (Alternately, if you're not here over a Tuesday, hit up Monopolatte - Ottawa's only board game cafe.)

Barrymore's Musical Hall has a retro 80s night every Sunday.  Some come dressed in their 80s best, and others come in comfortable shoes.  Show up early to get in the door, the line has been known to snake around the corner.  In the winter, there's a coat check available.  Last time I was there, they had 80s movies playing (silently) to accompany the music.  Right on!  Hop on the 1, 2 or 7 and hop off at Somerset street.  Walk a half block down and you're there.

 Shanghai Restaurant on Somerset has karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights with China Doll.  Dog & Pony also has karaoke at various places - always an entertaining show.  I've been to O'Briens with friends, although I saved everyone's ears.

If you're looking for something less thumpy-thumpy, and more of a laid-back get together, and you've got oodles of useless trivia swimming in your brain, come on out to a trivia night at a local pub.  Most locations are within the downtown core and easy to get to.  Bonus if you come to Pints and Quarts (Ps&Qs) on a Sunday night - yours truly is the host.

If you're looking for something more intellectual, check out The Gladstone, GCTC or Arts Court for local theatre productions.  There's also the National Arts Centre for larger productions.  The Gladstone has some pretty interesting Art Deco architecture, if you're looking for some interesting buildings to check out.

If you've got your walking shoes with you, you can always hit up Ottawa's Haunted Walk.  Tours run year round, and will educate on the city's seedier side with their stories.  Bonus points if you stay in the Ottawa Jail Hostel - it's rumoured to be haunted!

Street and Nye (or StreetnNye)

Order in ranking, Street number 31, Nye number 45.
 
The same weekend that I climbed Rocky Ridge Peak, I also climbed Street and Nye.  Unlike the day before (Rocky) when I hiked up and out with the whole group of us camping, this time it was back to the Dynamic Duo, as Steph and I set out together for our own hike.

Signing in.

Neither Street nor Nye has much of a view from the summit, so we figured the other women might not be interested in spending the day with us; especially considering we were trying to get them hooked on the hiking the 46.  They went off to hike Phelps instead, which has a fantastic view.

Steph and I set out around 8 – not fantastically early, but certainly not a late start either.  The trailhead to Street and Nye can be reached a few ways – we walked towards the Loj, and took the path marked “Mount Jo”; alternatively, you can head out past the parking station attendant booth, and take the path there marked “Mount Jo”.  The two paths do meet up eventually, at the register.

From there, you follow the path as it leads around the Lake, eventually splitting off from the Mount Jo path, and another Old Nye Ski Trail.  Shortly after this, there’s a large sign stating that the trail is no longer maintained nor marked past this point.  It should be noted that the trail is quite easy to follow, mostly.

I say mostly because when you get to the large river crossing, there are paths that lead from the trail down to the river bank.  We took the first one, assuming it to the trail, and crossed the river only to lose the trail on the other side.  (After much back and forth – both along the banks and back across the river – did we finally pull out the compass and use it while reading the guide book, realizing that we had crossed before the river swings north and needed to go back and get on the trail again.)  To save you this time and trouble, it’s important to note that a) there are two false paths to the river before the true trail leads down, and b) the true trail and river crossing are marked with cairns on both sides of the river.  If you don’t see a cairn on your side or the opposite side, don’t cross!

 

Follow these across the river.

We pulled out our river shoes to cross – I had already fallen once on the rocks and bashed my knee good, and the water was just deep enough to give me pause about walking (again) in wet boots.  The water was surprisingly not that cold – it actually felt quite nice on our feet. 

Abandoned cans, all rusty and un-usable.

From there, the trail was easily discernible as it led along the river bank, past a large meadow (and later on a beaver dam) eventually reaching the abandoned lumber camp.  Here we decided to leave a few things – it had been cold when we started out, and we had worn long pants at the beginning of our hike, so we left our pants, and water shoes, with a note stating that we had gone to Street/Nye and would be back later on that day for our belongings.  (And yes, they were still there when we got back.)

Street and Nye have a great hike up – it’s not too demanding (even the steep section is – compared to Basin, Haystack and Giant – not that bad). One thing that did surprise us – everything we’d read and Street and Nye talked about the steep bit before the trail splits for the two summits.  While there is a steep bit before the split, there’s also a not so steep section after the steep section but before the split.  So basically - once you hit the steep section, you're just over half-way to the split.  You're going to go through a section of what looks like deadwood, and things are going to look like you're coming to something summit-y, and then you'll go around a corner and....there's still path in front of you.  

I can almost....reach....

We went to Street first, as we figured get the further one out of the way.  It was fairly flat for a short bit, then it got a little steep as we wound our way up.  It's good to note that there are several paths, as people have meander their way to the summit - try to stick to the one that is the most defined to avoid trampling the surroundings too much.  I think it took us maybe 40 minutes to hit the summit - not too long, really.  Once we got there, I sat to treat a blister that was forming (duct tape over a band-aid easily solves this problem), while Steph took a few photos from the lookouts.

We quickly headed back to the split, and up Nye; it was a very quick 10 minute walk over to the Nye.  There was some gentle up and down, but the real problem was grabby branches from the bushes lining the path.

Great day for a rocky beach....

Once we hit Nye, took a few photos (of us, and the couple that we had been following to and from Street), we headed back to the split for some lunch.  There's a nice clearing with plenty of shady places to sit at the split, which was great on a bright, sunny day.  We chatted with a few hikers (there were lots out - we met over 30 hikers, which surprised us as neither summit has a view) and then headed out - making a push to hit the lumber camp and retrieve our gear (which we hoped was still there - it was.)

We took a break by the river crossing - sitting and sunning on the rocks, and drying our feet after dipping them in water.  From there we pushed on towards the trail register, and then to the Info Centre to pick up our patch (Street and Nye share a patch.) 

Total climbing time: 7 hours and 40 minutes

Left trailhead at: 8:15, returned at 3:55

Summitted Street at 12:25 (left summit at 12:31) summitted Nye at 1:08

Rocky Peak Ridge Traverse to Route 9

Order in ranking, number 20.

This past weekend, I headed down to the Adirondacks yet again, but this time with a gaggle of girls.  Besides my climbing partner Stephanie, there were four other women who were keen on hiking and camping in the Adirondacks: Terri, Mel, Nath, and Christine. 

We drove down in a thunderstorm, but thankfully the rain let up long enough for us to erect our tents….and tarps over the tents.  It proceeded to rain most of the night, but Friday morning dawn with a cloudy sky, but no sign of rain.

We set off for the trailheads – our plan being to park one car at the trailhead to Rock Peak Ridge on Route 9, pile into the other car and park at the Roaring Brook trailhead to Giant Mountain and Rocky Peak Ridge on Route 73.  We got off to a slightly later start that we had hoped, but it was still early enough to get parking.

While Stephanie and I have climbed Giant before, the women were new to climbing the 46ers, with the exception of Christine, who accompanied Stephanie on her hike up Big Slide.  Giant is certainly an interesting choice for a first climb – most people would start with Cascade or Porter, as the two easiest.  But Giant is a nice climb, if a little steep in places.  It also involves some minor rock scrambling that isn’t very scary.

We took a few breaks on the way up – Stephanie wasn’t feeling too well, and the other women wanted time to soak in the experience.  We weren’t trying to set any records, so we meandered along, taking breaks, chatting, and going at our own pace. 

It’s funny how trails seem to change – there was lots of stuff that neither Stephanie nor I remembered, but other places that we recalled in great detail – such as the first rocky slab that you have to scramble up.  The first time we climbed it, we stuck to the edges, rather afraid of falling down the rock, and anchoring each other as we took pictures.  This time, however, we were much more confident (thank you, cliffs of Saddleback) and strode out to take photos from the same lookout.

After a bit, Stephanie made the call to send the other women on ahead of us as she was feeling a little out of sorts and wanted to take a bit longer of a breather.  The reasoning was that they wanted to summit both Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge, and if they went ahead they could summit Giant, and we would meet up with them at the junction for Rocky Peak Ridge.  Neither party would miss out on what they wanted, and no one would have to wait for the other.   So the four women went on, and I stayed back with Stephanie. 

We slowly made our way up, chatting with each other about our hike that day and the next, and about what hikes we might like to do next year.  We moved at our pace – we’re slow, but we’re steady.  We rarely need to take long breaks, because we don’t push ourselves too hard above what we’re comfortable with.

Relaxing at the junction

When we passed the junction for the Zander Scott trail (also known as the Ridge Trail), with .7 of a mile left to the summit of Giant, and .6 of a mile left to the junction of Rocky, Stephanie decided to send me on ahead as well.  She had made the difficult decision to not summit Rocky Peak Ridge.  She was feeling exhausted, and wanted to be fresh enough for our climb up Street and Nye the next day.  (Stephanie had done the majority of the driving the day before, in torrential rain, so it’s no wonder that she was exhausted.)

So I set on a little bit quicker, and reached the junction to Rocky Peak Ridge, to learn from other hikers that the other women had just left to summit Giant. I sat down, and prepared to wait (and enjoy the sun that had burnt off the clouds).  After a quick wait, both Stephanie and other women joined me.

We decided that Christine would stay with Stephanie, as she had only intended to hike Giant, and Nath, Mel, Terri and I would hike over to Rocky Peak Ridge.  After that, Nath would return to meet up with Christine and Stephanie, and Mel, Terri and I would continue the traverse to the Route 9 trailhead.

The “steep descent” on the col between Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge wasn’t that bad.  I felt it was on part with the rocky steep bits on Lower Wolf Jaw – perhaps a bit less.  The ascent on the way to Rocky Peak Ridge was steep, but no more so than most Adirondack hikes – there at least was no rock scrambling involved.  All in all, it’s very doable if you’ve done several hikes in the Adirondacks that involve some rocky scrambling.

We quickly hit Rocky Peak Ridge, and took various group and solo photos.  From there, Nath headed back, and Mel, Terri and I headed on.

The trail to Route 9 is lovely, descending to pass by a pond (Mary Louise Pond) before ascending to Rocky Mountain (not to be confused with Rocky Peak Ridge).  Lots of open rock face, and lots of great views from here.  Then it was another descent, before climbing again to Bald Mountain.  Again, lots of open rock and some fantastic views.  The trail is clearly marked over these peaks with not only with yellow paint blazes, but also with cairns that lead you around the rocky summits to the path on the other side.

The map we had, had one more name on “Blueberry Cobbles” so we figured we were fairly close to the end of the hike.  We set on, and descended and ascended yet again.  Here we were faced with not only open rock face, but very slanted open rock face.  I was reminded of the cliffs of Saddleback – although these were not as steep, nor as perilous looking as Saddleback, they were intimidating.  We took it slow over the rocks, as we slowly starting to descend yet again.

From here, we thought it would be a straightforward hike to the trailhead.  And then….a sign.  There seemed to be no reason for this sign (although, it could be that it was marking the junction to a short cut, that we found out about after the fact) that said “Blueberry Cobbles Rte 9 2.4 miles”.  Had we gone 2.4 miles since Blueberry Cobbles?  Did we have 2.4 miles to go?  We had no idea.

Great view, long hike

And then, suddenly….another ascent.  That’s right – our fifth ascent since leaving Rocky Peak Ridge.  We were going up again.  When, we wondered, would this hike be over?

We continued to follow the trail, and started another descent when we saw a sign for a red-marked trail that was a short-cut around Blueberry Cobbles summit.  I’m not sure how much time could have been cut off if we had followed this trail, but it may have given us one less ascent/descent.  We picked up the pace, as much as we could given the fact that it was nearing on 8 hours of hiking at this point. 

We were moving on auto-pilot, when we saw something in the distance.  We didn’t want to be fooled – far too many times we had seen a small clearing in front of us, and we had thought it was the parking lot to no avail.  But this time was different.  This time we could see sun glinting off of metal.  And it was – we had finally, at 6:20, hit the parking lot.

The traverse is a nice hike, but it’s long, and the constant up and down as you climb and descend the various peaks between makes it feel even longer.  But the views are quite nice and almost make up for it.  Still, I’d recommend climbing Rocky Peak Ridge from Giant.

Total climbing time: 9 hours and 28 minutes

Left trailhead on Route 73 at: 8:52, hit trailhead on Route 9 at: 6:20

Summited Rocky Peak Ridge at: 1:43