Up and Down Bald Peak
We arrived at the New Russia trailhead at 6:55. I'd contemplated sleeping at camp, but I was tired from a long day and wanted my own bed. Between that and some general disarray that morning, we had a bit of a late start at 7:20 AM. Ours was the only car there and the place was a bit spooky in the cool gloom. Far-away birdsong echoed in the forest.
Once we got past the trailhead, the forest opened up and the sun started to filter through at a low angle. We made quick work of the bottom half mile or so which is relatively smooth with a gentle grade. Sunny stayed on his long leash for the first couple of miles as usual. I can't really trust him with other wildlife.
The trail starts losing its undergrowth as it climbs and winds through some evergreens.
The trail follows a stream for another half mile or so as it curls around a little prominence at the tip of the range.
The forest of young evergreens that exists between Blueberry Cobble and the first prominence is very pretty. We could see quite deep into the woods and the birdsong echoed all around us.
The 700' or so of climb to the Blueberry Cobbles summit is nothing an average hiker can't handle.
It is, however, home to a lovely birch forest which seems to be a feature at certain elevations on this range. The birches kind of form a golden halo around the lower part of the range. They are quite pretty and nice to walk through.
We did decide to actually go to the lookout on the Cobbles rather than taking the detour. It was an absolute banger of a day and there are many incredible views along this ridge. It's certainly difficult to keep a decent pace going with so much to look at.
The lookout doesn't really offer a great view of the range because it's not quite high enough. You can see Bald Peak looming nearby with its shoulders all around it. The foremost shoulder of the mountain is a small prominence named Mason Mountain according to an old map. The col is called "Hedgehog Notch" and features sheer cliffs between it and Bald Peak. I'm sorry that I didn't get a photo of it.
Pink Lady Slippers were out in full force across the range.
The real work began climbing up to Bald Peak from Blueberry Cobbles though. The elevation gain up to the prominence before Hedgehog Notch is over 300', then between the notch and the ridge of Bald Peak is 800'. The climb is a lot of steep slabs and boulders as well streams trickling over rock and root.
The climb may have been strenuous, but Bald Peak is a beautiful summit. I'd say it's certainly worth the hike from New Russia if you wanted some quick morning exercise with lovely views at the top. The top of the mountian is a long ridge similar to its big brother next door. As you near the true summit, the trail curls around the South side of the mountain over bare slabs and meadows similar to Jay Peak. Because of that, you're afforded stunning views of the surrounding area for the majority of the half a mile or so that you're up there.
There are views of Rocky Peak Ridge throughout the hike across Bald Peak. We stopped at the summit to take stock and have a snack. My brain wasn't working properly so I thought that Dix in the far distance to the left was Giant and my mind boggled at that. Only later did I realize, no, Giant was the distant peak to the right nearly totally obscured by RPR. Still far, but not soul-crushingly far. It is fair to point out that the day was very clear indeed and it was easy to point out specific mountains in the distance.
We sauntered past the giant erratic on the West side of Bald Peak and began our 200' descent into the col.
The descent from Bald Peak is incredibly steep... and seemed even steeper on the way back!
Between the two mountains there is a gorgeous Birch forest in the col called Dickerson Notch. I know Birch is fairly hardy, but I was still surprised to see such a big stand of them in the sortof place I'm used to seeing more ornery trees. I wondered if the many flowing springs and the protection from the Western winds had something to do with their success.
Up and Across Rocky Peak Ridge
Rocky Peak Ridge is aptly named. It is a big mountain with a long and toothy top that has four distinct prominences on it. The Eastern-most peak, near Giant, is the true summit. West of that is the 2nd prominence and between it and the third one there's a pond called Lake Mary Louise. It's easy to mistake the 3rd prominence for the last one, but it isn't. These peaks don't seem like much from RPR. However, when you are in the midst of them, they look and feel decievingly tall, especially when you've been ridge-hiking all day. More on that later.
In our case, we were tackling them East to west, so of course we summited the farthest prominence first. The trail makes no effort to save your legs from elevation gain. No matter what the peak is, the trail wants to summit it. It's no small wonder, though. These peaks are slabby and offer spectacular views.
There were lots of running springs on all the mountains today, including this side of RPR. There was a proper stream going near the foot of the climb which Sunny availed himself of.
This was the only real obnoxious blowdown of the day.
The climb up from Dickerson Notch was difficult. The first third was fairly tame but relentless. The rest of the way up involved bouldering and lots of wet slabs. We really got a workout eating up that 1200' of elevation gain, but at least it was a lot of fun. It was even fun coming down on the way back.
The Eastern peak of Rocky Peak Ridge offers incredible views of Lake Champlain and points East. This should surprise no one because it's the biggest thing around out there with Easterly views. The only comprable view that I can think of is Jay Mountain, which is farther North. I suspect a couple of the Northern fire tower hikes will also prove to have similar or better views of the big lake.
A lot of work has been put into reducing erosion on this range. All of the cols that I recall featured raised, hard-packed trails where erosion was once a problem. This was true from one end of the range to the other. Nearer to the summits, there were some heavy boardwalks which were easy to traverse with trekking poles.
The next prominence (2nd farthest from RPR summit) climbs to over 4000 feet, but is ony about 50 feet of gain from the col. I don't have many photos of this peak, but I know it had bald slabs and nice views. It did have some muddy spots between the rock formations and vegetation, but they were mitigated with boardwalks.
At any rate, we hiked down to Lake Mary Louise, losing about 70' of elevation. We hung out here for a while, taking pictures and enjoying the sun and nature all around us. We still hadn't seen a single person which was a little surprising to me considering what a beautiful day it was. Still, I suspect this trail doesn't get nearly the traffic others to Giant do which is a shame because it's an incredible hike.
There was some industrious forestry going on in the nearby impromptu campsite. I was quite surprised to see beaver activity at this elevation. However, I assume they follow any running water until they can find a nice spot to set up shop.
I took off Sunny's pack and threw the stick for him several times. Every time he brought the stick back, he'd drop it at my feet and wag his butt with gusto. Sunny loves fetching sticks in the water which is unsurprising given that's literally what he was bred to do.
We left the lake at 12:20pm and we were still feeling pretty great. How could one not on a beautiful day like this?
Immediately after leaving our sitting rock, we came to a section of trail completely submerged a foot deep. We broke off and bushwhacked around it.
There were quite a few Orange Peel Mushrooms growing across the range.
The trail doesn't quite ascend to the very top of the peak nearest to the true summit, but it does gain about 100'. In the photo above, you can clearly see the other two peaks we'd just hiked across in the near distance. You can also see my dog... he's annoyed we aren't throwing sticks anymore and we're just walking again. He's also wondering where his dogdamned sandwich is.
The trail bumps up and down along the ridge, offering incredible views and blossoming glades.
The final ascent to the true summit of Rocky Peak Ridge isn't much of a climb compared to the former climb up Bald Peak or the latter climb up to the first RPR peak. After 300' of gain and 35 minutes of climbing, at 12:55pm, we were at the summit. And what a summit, too. The views are incredible and there's plenty of boulders for lounging and snacking.
This shot of the Dix and Colvin ranges really help put into perspective how proud you should be for hiking these mountains. They are impressive to look at and rewarding to experience, however they can be unforgiving and dangerous.
I'd been mulling the possibility of bailing and returning after reaching the RPR summit depending on Sunny's condition and the water situation. Sunny was still moving very well and water was plentiful from the springs on the sides of all the mountains. With these views and the beautiful day, I was feeling energized. I made the call to head for Giant.
Adirondack Kommand sez "Dat don't look too far, boss!"
Giant
The descent from RPR was neverending. You lose over 600' of elevation coming down RPR, then ascend almost 900' to the summit of Giant. I knew the numbers going into this hike, but each step descending Rocky Peak Ridge was a regret. I was still looking forward to climbing Giant, but I wasn't looking forward to the return trip at all. After a couple hundred feet, I was starting to have second thoughts. I kept telling myself it was a mind game; we were physically fine and had plenty of fuel for the entire hike, so we pressed on.
The about 2/3 the way down the mountain, we came across our first person of the day, startling me to be honest. As she approached, she said "Is that Sunny?" Turns out it was Lexxi, who we'd met a couple of times before and who had named her own dog after Sunny. We chatted for a little, and Sunny was obviously happy to get some pets. We then went our separate ways.
On the way up Giant, there were plenty of slabs and boulders...
...and more slabs and boulders.
I won't lie; it was a big ascent and it was difficult, but not truly anything we haven't done before. The big difference was how much elevation gain we'd already done that day. In the final stretch, I drank the protien drink I'd bought at Stewies and pushed forward.
We reached the summit a little under an hour and a half after we left Rocky Peak Ridge which was actually a bit faster than I was expecting. Giant is a beautiful summit with multiple viewpoints around it, similar to the rest of the range.
When we arrived, there was someone at the summit taking little polaroids and she took one of Sunny. We also helped each other take photos of ourselves. After giving Sunny some pets, she departed for the Ridge Trail
I sent a message to family to let everyone know I was going to stay at the summit and enjoy it for a while. We'd gone so far; it'd be a shame to leave it prematurely because I wanted to avoid a few minutes of hiking in the dark.
Adirondack Kommando sez "Dis is a fun mountain!"
I said "Hi" to the country club.
While we were eating our sandwich, another hiker showed up. She was very nice to Sunny and even gave him some of her beef jerky. It turns out she was celebrating her 70th birthday with a hike as she usually does. We had a really great conversation about kids and aging with gusto before she packed up to head back down to Rt.73.
I let Sunny snooze a bit longer while I got myself situated, packing stuff up. The 3L bladder was almost empty so I switched out for the full 1.5L I still had in the bag.
We started off again at 3:15, having given us 45 minutes at the summit. With the sun still shining, we headed back to tackle the 5000' of elevation descent and 1500' of elevation gain back to the car.
The Return Voyage
Hiking down Giant was not as painful as I was expecting it to be, but the climb up Rocky Peak Ridge was every bit so. I knew how I tackled this part of the hike would be essential to the success of the rest of the hike. Clearly, the big ups would be this and Bald Peak, and if I could do it without hurting myself or fatiguing myself, the rest of the hike would be more successful.
We stopped more frequently than we usually do to rest. I have deleted at least a dozen photos I took during these rest brakes. I hate handfuls of my trail mix which includes nuts, chocolate, dehydrated beef, and dehydrated fruits. I'd brought a couple of big bags of dehydrated chicken for Sunny and I fed some to him at every step. When we reached RPR, Sunny and I stopped for a cracker break and moved on.
The hike across Rocky Peak Ridge's four peaks was rather pleasant. I filtered some water at some point as I figured I'd need it (I wasn't wrong). We did a lot of descending, so whenever we started climbing agin, my legs would start to cramp up. Sunny was starting to tire a bit, mainly staying at my heels during the descents and on the flat sections, but hopped up ahead on the ascents.
Despite the waning day, we regularly stopped to absorb the views, take photos, and eat snacks. This was a 16-mile hike after all (or thereabouts). It was absolutely a marathon rather than a sprint and hiking in the dark was all but guaranteed at the end. There was no reason to exhaust both of us by pushing too hard.
We arrived at the Eastern-most point on RPR at almost 6pm and gazed down at Bald Peak. It looked daunting. I messaged the time and ETA to our family and we started the 1200' hike down to the col. It was rather grueling and the sky darkened as we descended. The hike back up Bald Peak was tough. It helped knowing that there would be very little elevation gain after this, but I think I basically turned off my brain during that part of the hike. I simply put one foot in front of the other. After the eternal descent from RPR's East summit, the 260' back up Balt Peak felt like three times that.
We reached Bald Peak summit almost exactly an hour later, nearly at 7pm. While we made our way across the top of the mountain, I realized the darkening sky had little to do with the angle of the sun, but the attitude of the sky. Clouds and rain sprinkles were shoving in from the Southwest. Still, Sunny and I had a snack at the summit and checked in with family before moving on.
We still quite enjoyed the flattish hike across Bald Peak despite the rain. We keept to the right at all times, following the yellow slab markers. I lost track of the trail along the slabs a few times, I think partially due to the fading light, but we always got ourselves reoriented. As we descended, Sunny perked up quite a bit and even chased after a few chipmunks. I was methodical.
Sunny Days, even in the rain.
We made it back to the Blueberry Notch/Bypass junction at 8:15, about 15 minutes before official sunset. We had a snack and Sunny rested a bit. I don't really think I can trust Sunny's normally decent recall with the various nocturnal animals in the ADK, particularly skunks, porcupines, and bears. I switched out the short leash for the longer, elastic Ruffwear leash.
I like that leash quite a bit. First of all, I can lash it around my body and leave my hands free for double trekking poles. Also, the elastic nature really helps reduce the impact of Sunny's explorations and pulling on my body. Sometimes after a hike I feel like my back is tweaked by Sunny hauling me back to the trailhead. With the elastic leash, he tends to notice the resistance sooner and taps the brakes. The past couple of hikes my back has felt a lot better.
Lastly, I plugged my phone into the Halo and started listening to music. I know this is a huge problem when other hikers are around, but there was clearly noone around for miles. I wanted to make absolutely sure most animals knew something strange and unpleasant was approaching in the dark. For my part, I'd personally had plenty of peace and solitude for one day and was ready to go home.
Sunny and I the remaining 15 minutes of early twilight before I had to switch the headlamp on a little after 8:30. I had to just point it at my feet at first as we descended the dark East side of Blueberry Cobbles. The hour in the dark felt like two. I wasn't scared, but I was certainly wary. I hollered into the night ("Hey, Boo Boo! Get a load of this pic-a-nic bas-ket!") and sang along to my music as we descended through the gloom. I occasionally went off-trail a bit, but usually was able to find the trail with my lamp and only once with the map. It actually took us the same amount of time to cover the same distance going up
At long last, we arrived at the trailhead just after 9:35 and signed out. We were glad to make it to the Exit 25 Stewart's 40 minutes or so later where I bought some Welch's gummies. That boost of sugar woke me right up for the rest of the drive. I wonder what the clerks think of all the aging hikers hobbling into their store at all hours of the night.
AllTrails stats were: 16.8 miles, 6400 feet elevation gain, 11:24 moving time, 14:20 total time, and 40 minute pace. These stats are off more than usual because I lost GPS signal at the end of the hike and it had to calculate as the crow flies. My pace was off from my usual 34 minutes but that's to be expected with all the elevation in such a short distance.
Still, I feel really proud of us and our ability to do such a big hike. As I've been rebuilding the website, I've been reading some of my old posts and one crossed my eye the other day where I declared that the longest we should ever hike in one go is ten miles. Hilarious.
As I said, the Pinnacle Traverse is in a couple of weeks and the elevation gain is about the same as this one, but it's five miles longer. I think that's going to be more difficult in general, but I also am looking forward to the challenge. We've reserved a campsite at a State campground for the night before and after so we can safely drive home and enjoy a fire and a couple of beers that night.
But first, next weekend, we'll be heading back to the Catskills for a really fun hike.
