Each year, I like to try to schedule one of the most difficult 14ers when I get to Colorado and climb a few. Last time, it was Little Bear; This time, it was Pyramid. Pyramid is peak that is a blast to climb and offers out-of-this-world views, but you really have to earn them. Nearly all of the climb, both up and down, is difficult and requires concentration. This is a trek that requires focus for a long, long time!

I had a midnight to midnight reservation to park up at Maroon Lake. I actually got there a little earlier to find hardly anyone around and slept in the car. I started out at 3:40am since I am slow and wanted to give myself the best chance possible: however, the weather forecast was clear all day and that is exactly what happened. I could not have asked for a better day for this climb.

Start up the Maroon Lake trail toward Crater Lake. After a quarter mile or so, a trail branches off to the left: skip it, it's a scenic loop that doesn't lead where you're going. After about a mile and a half, a pair of big cairns mark the Pyramid Peak trail which heads off to the left. Shortly after that, and second pair of big cairns marks an alternate entrance to the Pyramid route. (If you actually REACH Crater Lake, you missed the turn.)

The path gets harder from here. Ascend through trees and boulder fields on a steep, rugged trail. If this is a struggle, you may want to turn around because the route gets progressively harder and does not let up.

This trail gains about 1000 feet and leads to the entrance of the amphitheater.

Once in the amphitheater, you're in for a long trek across a sea of rocks. Some are steady, some are loose: the path is cairned and if you stay on the cairned path, you'll have fewer loose steps. But you'll still have some: Caution is needed here.

As you get further into the amphitheater, you'll turn left and aim for the wall left of Pyramid itself. You should be able to see trail segments crisscrossing their way up the slope to the ridge.

The path to the ridge is awful and, while maybe not the hardest, may be the least pleasant part of this climb. I've seen it called the "Thousand Feet of Suck". A steep, sliding , gravelly series of trails leads up the wall, nearly all of them sliding out from under your feet. The trail braids and often you have several choices. You'll have to ascend a whopping 1000 feet this way: good luck.

When you at last reach the ridge, you're treated to spectacular, rugged rock formations and incredible views. It's a great place to sit for a minute.

Pyramid is known for mountain goats, and there was a family of four - two big ones and two little ones - that followed me and the other climbers around this day. They walked right by me as I sat on the ridge: they seem pretty used to people and don't mind us.

Once on the ridge, you'll turn right and pass a bump on its right to reach another saddle. The route is confusing, steep, and difficult, and gets more so the farther you go; Thankfully, it was pretty well cairned and I was able to stay on route. Put your helmet on if you haven't. Besides rocks naturally breaking off and rolling down Pyramid's steep slopes, climbers and goats above you may knock them down.

The cairns lead you to the "Leap of Faith". I went a slightly different way here on the ascent because I missed a cairn and ended up a little above the Leap of Faith, but I was able to scramble down to it without backtracking.

The jump isn't difficult, but you do need to commit and you do not want to fall. Immediately after this is the cliff traverse, where you scoot across a flat, narrow ledge. It's short, but there's exposure here.

Continue along the side of the mountain, following the cairned route.

You'll cross a steep gully (which, at least as of now, has an easy, flat trail across it) and arrive at the green wall. You'll climb up the green wall, a steep scramble that will require hands and feet; but do make sure to get a really good look at where you came from so you can return to it on the descent. The green wall continues below where you enter it, so you don't want to go past it on the descent! There were two big, obvious cairns there, so it wasn't too hard to spot.

The wall and the rest of the route are steep and a fall would likely be real trouble since you could fall a very long way.

Keep an eye out for cairns: the top of Pyramid is very rugged and treacherous, with many options.

A few times, I couldn't locate the next cairn, so tried as few different ways to climb higher until I spotted one. There are many options, and you can probably find your own way that isn't marked by cairns, but I'd rather not be off route on a peak like this one.

I did lose the cairns just under the summit, but saw a sort of class 3 ramp that looked climbable and led to the summit. I scrambled up and found myself there! Pay attention: know how to get back down the way you came up.

Be very careful to follow the cairned route on the way down as you did on the way up. The route looks impossibly steep from above, but is more manageable than it looks.

Be sure to exit the green wall where you entered, which will put you back on the path toward the gully, cliff traverse, and Leap of Faith.

One of the things I found especially difficult about Pyramid was the amount of concentration needed even on the descent. Downclimbing the upper route with all of its class 3 and 4 is tough; but then you also have to skid and slide your way down from the saddle along the "Thousand Feet of Suck." This is very tough, especially as you're getting tired, and lasts forever.

After THAT, you then have to find your way back down the treacherous rock glacier through the amphitheater. Between staying on the path and watching for loose rocks, you simply can't let your guard up. When I reached the exit of the amphitheater, a goat was standing there, as if on guard:

And from there, the route is a little simpler as you descend the rough path through trees and boulderfields before meeting back up with the Crater Lake trail. From here, you'll retrace your steps back past Maroon lake to the parking lot.

Pyramid is an incredible adventure, and worth the high difficulty and exhaustion of reaching its summit! It is also NOT a peak to be taken lightly, and not one to do without experience on other scrambling routes. But if you've done some tough class 3-4 scrambling on other peaks, it's absolutely magnificent. Don't forget, if you climb this one, that you have serious responsibility to avoid kicking down rocks. The top of Pyramid is so steep that rocks can pick up speed and hurt people below you.

I'll add that I lucked out on weather. As the forecast predicted, it was a clear, sunny day all day with only moderate wind. It got hot on the lower descent, by which point it was afternoon.

The only other top-tier difficult peak I've climbed is Little Bear. Now, Little Bear is more dangerous with the sketchy nature of the Hourglass and its legendarily scary rockfall. But I think Pyramid is harder to climb: The route is longer, with more scrambling, more elevation gain, and much longer stretches of difficult parts. Little Bear, on the other hand, has its highest difficulty condensed into a relatively short bit high on the mountain.