Ridge Trail to Giant Mountain and Rocky Peak Ridge

Great hike with many views along the way. Hike down Giant to RPR was much more difficult that I thought it would be but, well worth the trip. Took us 9 hours with about an hour at the top. Our time might have been a bit faster but, we had a little rain which made the rocks slippery. Bring plenty of water as there are no places to fill up along the trail. Happy Hiking!!!

I really enjoyed the challenge this hike brought and especially loved the views all the way up and on the summit. We hit a thunderstorm coming down but overall it was a great, challenging hike!

Like a lot of people have mentioned Giant has great views from the summit as well as on its exposed ridges all the way up. This mountain does receive quite a bit of foot traffic on nice days due to its short distance so don't be surprised to be sharing the summit with a lot of people (+ dogs and kids). The RPR col can be steep at parts (more so on the Giant side than the RPR side of things) but the views from RPR are near just as good as Giant- and with a lot less people.

RPR #45 Giant #46 for me

This took me just over 6 hours round trip (just over 2 hours to Giant summit, 1 hour from Giant over to RPR). This is a fun trail. Well traveled (over traveled really) and easy to follow with a nice gradual, albeit constant ascent from the start to the finish. The first 1/3 consists of mostly switchbacks, then the trail involves a lot of scrambling some of which is in the trees but a lot is out of the trees giving you outstanding views. That is what makes this hike great, constant views while you’re putting in the work on a large part of the way up (and therefore the way down too). However the day I tackled this it was pouring and super windy (thankfully the clouds opened partly on my descent so I got some great views coming down). I was also alone which on the day wasn’t a great choice. I wouldn’t recommend this hike in the rain (especially when alone) because the amount of scrambling and rock slabs involved were all so slippery and one slight wrong move and you’re slipping, sliding, falling and it could lead to a real injury. I’d save this hike for a sunny day and get the most bang for your buck...if you like those “wet Adirondack mountain hikes” like many do, I’d choose something different, like Tabletop or Street and Nye. I found this hike to be quite fun all things considered and it’s understandable since it’s such a popular ADK hike.

Trail was easy to follow, with great views leadining up to the Summit. Plenty of places to stop for a quick break over looking the valley. Views from RPR were fantastic!

The views from Giant are good, both along the way and at the top, but from RPR it's pretty spectacular-- walking around the open, rocky peak you can see 280 degrees. The backside of Giant taking you down to head up RPR is a bit of a bear-- parts of it are very steep, open rock. Some were slick with mud/water as well. And since this is an out and back you do get that part coming and going (it's a bit easier going up). Our mileage clocked in at 8.4 rather than 7.5.

camped up near the top of roaring Brook falls, hiked down, then when to the top. very fun hike, challenging and a great view

The climb up Giant was amazing as a good portion of the trail is open rock face with great views. The decent/accent/decent/accent going to rocky ridge and back is pretty brutal but well worth it. You can see Vermont and lake Champlain from rocky ridge on a clear day. My 7th and 8th high peaks and favorite hike so far. Be on the lockout for copperheads sunbathing on the open rock face. Ran into a couple on my hike.

Fun and challenging trail. Was a bit slippery and muddy with the rain.

This hike was our first of the 46 Peaks and was challenging but rewarding as well. My wife and I are slow so it took us over 9 hours to complete. Over to RPR and back descending and ascending Giant were the most difficult. The end of the trail beers were refreshing.

Great views almost all the way up Giant (damn those false summits!) but definitely some steep parts. Trail to RPR requires some butt sliding on rock faces but its relatively short. At one point on the descent towards RPR you have a clear view of RPR summit, very nice view (seems far away but takes only 45 minutes to get there). Took my wife and I 9 hours round trip but we are slow and steady, especially on the descent.

Strenuous hike up but well worth it, the views were amazing and the rock scrambles were very cool. Heading down to rocky Peak ridge was a little gnarly at points, especially where the exposed rock was wet. Once at RPR we met A man with his daughter who took us back down the other side to new russia and drove us back to the primary trail head where we started. This was a long but absolutely beautiful trek. My knees were toast the last two miles but the scenery was worth it. FitBit Stats: Chapel pond > Giant >RPR > New Russia Trail Head = 44,697 steps

6/28/17

Incredible views basically from start to finish with several cut outs and false summits on the way to the giant summit (and giants washbowl). Trail was very steep but well worth it. Adding rocky peak was difficult mainly in that the first half of the 1.2 miles was straight down so climbing that before starting down the trail from giant again was really difficult. Legs were pretty fatigued by the end of the day. Views were stunning from both peaks.

2.5 hours to giant summit
Another hour to rocky summit

the trail to rocky is a bit tough...