September 6, 2016
We arrived at the trailhead around 5:30am and it was still dark out. We got ready quickly and threw on our headlamps to get an early start. We hoped to beat the crowds after our last hike which was super crowded. We saw two other small groups along the way but that was it. After about 45 minutes, we reached the first lookout and the view was incredible. The sun was still coming up and the color along the horizon was awesome.
We kept moving and reached the split off for RPR around 8am. We kept moving. The trail went down pretty steeply. There was a lot of open rock that was tricky to navigate going down into the col. We did reach a section of the trail which had a little lookout of a slide on RPR which was pretty cool.
Once we reached the bottom of the col, it wasn’t bad going up to the summit. From the junction, it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the summit. We had the summit to ourselves the whole time we were up there! It was truly amazing. I think RPR is my favorite peak to date. We had the perfect day. The sun was just starting to get warm and there was a slight chill in the breeze. We hung out for about 45 minutes and then headed back. 
We reached the junction in about the same amount of time. Getting back to the junction was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Climbing back up the open rock was super simple. There were a few spots where we had to grab onto trees along the side of the trail. But it definitely wasn’t the most difficult thing I’ve ever climbed in the Adirondacks. At this point, we passed a few pairs of people climbing toward RPR.
Once we reached the junction, we decided to go up to Giant since it was so close. That was my second time on Giant, and it was still just as cool. Except this time, there were a ton of people so we only stayed for a few minutes to just get the view again.
Heading down off the mountains wasn’t bad at all. We passed a lot of people along the way down. We were going a little slower since the trails were a little jumbled. We got back to the car around 1:45 and headed to SubAlpine Coffee in the Keene Valley! It was a great day in the high peaks! 25/46
More Than A Good View 