Trip to Giant Mountain

Giant of the Valley

Having conquered eight mountains of the Adirondacks in just five weeks, including two high peaks, I thought we were well prepared to take on Giant mountain. Giant is also called Giant of the Valley because you get a great view of the Keene Valley from the summit. 

At a 4, 626 feet elevation it is one of the Adirondack High Peaks.

When preparing for a hike, we do our homework and read the reviews so that we know what to expect. It's also important to know how long a hike takes on average, that way we know when to take off so that we won't get caught on a mountain in the dark. Were we prepared to take on Giant? Not really.  It was physically harder than I expected.

We arrived at the trail head around 11:00 AM and didn't waste any time. We signed in at the register and started the climb. According to the reviews, you start climbing from the parking lot and never stop. They weren't kidding. Unlike mountains such as Weakly, Goodnow, or Blackbear, there are no flat surfaces, it's straight up, mercilessly.

Mark was using an app that measures one's heartbeat. His was 64 at the start, mine was 66. After about 30 minutes, his was 92 and mine was 122.

We encountered large rock scrambles, and went up and up. About an hour into the ascent we had a beautiful view, and took a short break to admire the scenery.

As we progressed, the rock scrambles changed to large rock slabs, some steep, some easy. 

Two hours into it, a couple of people came down from the mountain. I had been thinking we've got to be almost there. They told us we still had an hour and a half to go. That was hard to believe.

We missed the not so well marked trail once and ended up on a ledge with a breath taking view.

Back on the trail, and back to climbing up steep sections. We reached the summer after 3 and a half hours. While the view was gorgeous, it was somehow a little disappointing. The summit wasn't as large as I had imagined after seeing some photos, and there was no 360 view. I know, I know,  I was getting spoiled after the 360 views from Cascade and Ampersand. As expected, it was windy up on the summit. We sat down a while, ate our sandwich, took a few pictures, and decided to descend and sit on the ledge we had seen earlier.

Here is a view from the summit.

One the way down, we crossed paths with several people going up. I hurried to tell them they were almost there, and they all loved to hear that :)
Back on the ledge, we again enjoyed the view, and especially the solitude, there were no other people near us. We ate a snack, and took more pictures. It was just a lovely view. The golden hour had just set in, the sun was starting to sink lower, gracefully colouring the valley with gentle tints. I could have stayed there forever, but the prospect of having to climb down in the dark just wasn't appealing.

We made it off the mountain just before dark. It was a great climb and a lovely day.

As usual, I took a picture of my boots. Those boots have done many miles now!

... and here are some more pictures from our Giant trip.

Meet the cats

Life just wouldn't be the same without cats. In the nearly 25 years I've been in the Adirondack region, I've had 3 cats. Mousti, Maxine, and Mona.

Mousti was a stray who invited herself in on a bitter cold winter night when she wasn't fully grown yet. The internet wasn't what it is today, there was no "Let me google and find out how to deal with a cat". I didn't have a litter box, and had to dig under the snow to find some half frozen soil that I put in a bucket. It worked. Mousti became my best friend. She died on June 27, 2013 at the blessed age of 18. It's been over 4 years now, and I still miss her every day. I had to exhume her after she had been buried for a month because some excavating had to be done in the spot where I had buried her. Now she has a nice resting place, adorned with flowers in summer.

Here is a picture of my queen.

After Mousti passed away, I said never again, but ended up with two cats, Mona and Maxine. Poor Maxine fell ill while I was in Europe, and passed away on April 4, 2017. She was an absolute sweetheart. We buried her next to Mousti, and we now call it M&M's grave.

Here's out Maxine, taking a nap in tomato land.

Now we are left with Mona. Mona is the perfect cat, she listens when we call, she's quiet, clean, loves to play, loves to catch mice, you cannot ask for a better cat.

Meet Mona:

Adirondack living

Life is about simplicity. It's about rolling snowballs, conquering mountains, and smelling freshly picked walnuts. 

Once upon a time, a friend far away, published a comic strip. One page showed a man, sitting at a table on his patio with a multi-million dollar home behind him and a swimming pool large enough to shoot another Jaws movie at. The man was writing about how he felt that his whole life had been a failure.

I am sitting at my hand-me-down desk when I write this. The puddle in my driveway is the only swimming pool I'll ever own. Happy? You bet! I'm just minutes away from the most beautiful views in the world. The cat is purring in her sleep, the chickens produced 6 eggs today, and we ate our own, organic red beets for dinner. They were still growing in the garden two hours ago. It doesn't get any better than this.

This blog is about living in the Adirondacks region. It is about living where many people would not want to live. I've heard it all: It's too far out in the boonies, it's too cold in winter, there are too many wild animals lurking in the bushes, it's too far to get to the grocery store, etc... As far as I am concerned, t's close to the mountains, the deer are practically within petting distance, and who needs to go grocery shopping when the freezer is full with home grown organic vegetables?

Welcome to the Adirondack jouney. Glad you stopped in.

Picture taken from the summit of Ampersand Mountain.