Tom Grundy's Pyramid Peak Page

We drove to the trailhead the night before (the 3rd) but there were emphatic "no sleeping in vehicles" and "no camping" signs there. After some indecision (we were all quite tired, in fact Sam slept through most of the indecision) we drove back down the road and found another lot without the "no sleeping in vehicles" sign. Home sweet home. We didn't get to bed as early as I wanted (about 8:30), but it sure beat the night before.

the morning light briefly broke through onto the Bells as we went by Maroon Lake

In the morning we got up too early (4:15ish) and made some breakfast before a departure around 5:30. This had us hiking past Maroon Lake just as the first light got between the clouds to hit the Bells. The breakfast, another day, and a bit more sleep seemed to help Sam's altitude problems. There were some sprinkles in the morning and a tiny bit of Graupel on the summit but otherwise the weather was great. The point to leave the main trail was pretty obvious and there were some great steps up through the Talus towards the basin. There we tromped up snow for a while and then back across more talus and snow to the somewhat screeish trail up to the ridge. The trail from there was pretty easy to follow with some scrambling but I didn't think it was too bad. The 3rd class moves had some exposure but the few lower 4th class moves didn't have much. I think the sketchiest part for Raquel was getting past a steep gully (that I just stepped across) and I thought a steep snowfield was the worst (but still pretty soft snow so good for kicking steps).

nice light on the greenery down below as we head up the trail to Pyramid

Sam on the saddle before the ridge to Pyramid
that is Pyramid in front of him

Raquel took her front pockets off for the narrow ledge

The summit views were most excellent and we posed for some pics before descending. A mountain goat had left fresh tracks in the snow between our ascent and descent but we didn't see it. We got in some scree skiing and glissading practice on the descent but Sam and I weren't able to convince Raquel to embrace the slide. We also had some more stops to relax and enjoy the views before the trail. We stuck our feet in the very cold Maroon lake for a bit which was good despite the pain. The final hike back down the road to our parking spot seemed to take about 5 times longer than the hike up in the morning did.

Raquel and Sam on the summit of Pyramid Peak

Sam ski-skids to a stop on the descent

taking a toesox picture was a bit of an ab workout

panorama from the summit of Pyramid Peak with the Maroon Bells in the center and then Snowmass and Capitol to the right

Summary of July 5th, one 14er, about 9 miles, 4,500 + feet of elevation gain, and some tired slackers.

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