Final day of the year in 2011, and took at trip to the ADKs with Brian, so we could enjoy some of the crisp cool scenery, and bag another winter peak. Arriving at the base of Giant mountain in the morning, we tossed on our gear, and started to show shoe up the trail – and I think we were the first to sign the register that morning. After 30 minutes of scraping along the slippery slopes, we got to an excellent ice bulge along the path on the open rocks. Clear solid clear ice with zero snow – we should see the yellow painted marks on the rockface encrusted below. We exchanged our climbing snowshoes, for some more serious ice gear, and both strapped on our full crampons. This turned out to be an excellent choice, as the rest of the hike and climb was sheer ice. With the rain, freezing, snow, thaw, rain cycles, the whole side of the mountain was one large ice sheet. We carried our snowshoes for the rest of the day – the hiking poles barely etching the firm ice. Photo here is nearing the summit, with nice background view of the some of the additional ADK peaks in the background. Great day to be out and enjoying nature!