rocky peak ridge.

yesterday we hiked rocky peak ridge, our thirty sixth adirondack high peak.
we chose to start from Rte 73 on the Zander Scott trail rather than from Rte 9 due to the shorter distance.  while this choice offers less mileage, it certainly doesn't compromise elevation: 3,100+ vertical gain to rocky peak ridge.  as soon as you sign in the trail register expect to start climbing!
i'll fully admit that i usually don't get my "hiking legs" until about 11:00 in the morning, making the first two hours of the climb mentally and physically challenging.  it is not generally wise to start chipper conversations with me during the morning portion of a strenuous hike; you might get what adam calls my "morning bear" face.
despite my grumpy mcpooperface attitude early in the day, the hike was rewarding right from the get-go.  in less than a half hour there are overlooks affording awesome views towards the dix mountain range.  it was a little cloudy on the first half of our hike and we were lucky enough to catch a rainbow at our first pit-stop.

passing giant's washbowl (which has a couple really awesome camping spots), we continued climbing nearly to the summit of giant mountain.  adam and i have already hiked giant mtn, and were happy to only hike one mountain on this day.  turning right, we descended down the shoulder of giant and climbed back up to the top of rocky peak ridge.

at first the summit was cloudy with only sporadic views, but within 15 minutes the low flying clouds disappeared and the sun shone!  we spent over a half hour on the peak eating, resting, snapping photos and enjoying the nearly 360 degree panoramas.

we took our time hiking back down, stopping frequently to enjoy the views.  it bears noting how the sun changes a previously cool hike into a dry scorching one!  a total of eight hours on the mountain and eight miles hiked.  it was a perfect day, although my knees would have disagreed at the end of the day.
only ten more mountains left before we can score our patches!