Pyramid Peak Trip Report 08/30/2009

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Pyramid Peak - 14,029 feet
Date Posted	08/30/2009
Date Climbed	08/29/2009
Author	JA_son27

The Crumbling Pyramid
Last winter I decided I wanted to climb Pyramid peak, and although my grandiose goals usually change as the year progresses this peak was still provoking me. Even after I had climbed some prodigious peaks this season I still wanted the Pyramid. My list of completed peaks this summer was ever growing, and I thought that Little Bear would leave me feeling fulfilled, but it didn't suffice. I tried to convince myself that I had done enough this year and that I could just focus all next summer on the Elks.... wrong. The only way to quench this hunger, this urge, was easy- climb it! I am starting to feel pretty confident about my route finding skills on harder mountains, and I am starting to get a feel for what class 4 actually means. I seem to know what to expect now before encountering it. I'm not trying to say I'm an expert now but my confidence is growing and it makes me feel pretty good! Amanda arrived home from work Friday afternoon and I immediately started loading up our newly rented Subaru Impreza. I was kind of excited to drive this fast little car all the way up to Aspen. I didn't want to take my Tacoma because the last time I tried sleeping in the cab I didn't get a wink of sleep, and as I am a camping poltroon I won't sleep in the back of my truck. (Which is funny because a couple of 14er members slept in the back of their Tacoma right next to me!) I left my house at 5:20pm and after a quick refuel in Glenwood Springs I was at the overnight parking lot West Maroon portal area around 9pm. I met 3 14er members there, Chris P, Moonstalker and KrazyK. I spoke with them for about a half an hour, and I learned they were going to be doing the Bells traverse. For a split second I was tempted to ask if I could go with them, but I already told Amanda I was hiking Pyramid. Frankly I don't know if I would've been motivated enough for that long day! Congrats to you 3! Shortly after laying my head down I was fast asleep. My alarm started talking to me at 4am which wasn't too bad, plus I think the anticipation of this hike was better than a shot of espresso! I got ready, drove up to the day hike parking lot, stretched and was off to satiate my compulsion. For some reason I was deathly afraid I was going to miss the Pyramid Peak trail cutoff, I had been up here twice before and I never noticed it, I had my eyes peeled. Two hikers started to pass me on the Crater Lake trail and had mentioned they had hiked Pyramid last week. "Perfect!" I thought, and asked them how much further they thought the cutoff was, "another couple of minutes," one hiker answered. About 30 seconds after they said that, there it was, a giant - oddly enough - pyramid shaped cairn! (maybe just my subconscious playing tricks on me) Shortly after turning off the main trail I started feeling the burn in my calves. The trail leading up to the amphitheater was pretty steep, but instead of putting my head down and grinding up the trail I was enjoying the views. The Maroon Bells as seen from Pyramid Peak trail I quickly found myself at the entrance to the amphitheater, and was surprised at how much more climbing was still ahead of me before a nice respite. There was still some snow present and I opted to go up that way instead of climbing up the talus. The snow was pretty dirty so I had no troubles just walking right up it. A group of climbers are present right above the snow field which gives a nice perspective After the first large snowfield I traversed to the right and found a decent trail and followed it right up to near the top of the hill. Once near the top of the hill I saw a large cairn to my left and hiked over to it and decided to take a break. Looking down at the entrance to the amphitheater, amazing! After my short refuel session I decided to get going, I soon realized there wasn't an actual trail that I could follow. There were however, a few cairns that led me to the steep trail in the gulley which takes you up to Pyramid's NE ridge. The trail goes up the third debris cone from the left, and tops out to the right of the point on the ridge A closer shot near the beginning of the gulley climb I met Monique, 14ers.com member "Clemsonclimber" at the bottom of this gulley. She truly is a remarkable woman. It was a pleasure grinding up that trail with you! She was showing a group of people, along with Uwe (14ers.com member "UWE") this wonderful place. Clemsonclimber and Uwe getting ready to climb up the gulley I slowly started up the gulley with Clemsonclimber, while her partner Uwe stayed back with another climber. This actually made the climb up the gulley go a little faster, talking while hiking really helps to take your mind off the torture. And yes, this gulley is VERY steep, and loose! Monique climbs up towards the NE ridge of Pyramid Very loose! The Maroon Bells, Snowmass, and Capital as seen from near the NE ridge crest on Pyramid As I was nearing the North East ridge crest I looked down into the amphitheater and realized something, this mountain is literally crumbling underneath our feet! How many tons of Pyramid peak lays thousands of feet below it's jagged summit? How deep is that rock glacier? Are all the Elk mountains crumbling like this one? Interesting questions that will probably never be answered. This mountain is crumbling right underneath our feet! Very near the ridge crest. There is a good trail all the way up. Ok, according to all the trip reports I have read this is where the fun starts. I hope so because up until this point the trail has been nothing but exorbitantly steep! Well, looking at the remaining route, I still have quite a bit of elevation to gain, but this would be a fun gain! A look at the remaining route up Pyramid After refueling I decide to get going, Clemsonclimber waited for her other teamates and we bid a farewell. I followed the good trail over to the base of Pyramid's huge massif, and it led me to the climbers right of the ridge, but don't go too far to the right of the ridge(The cairns will lead you up and over to the other side) I followed the cairns, and the route description to go up and over the ridge to the east side of the peak. Once you traverse to the other side you will be greeted with an abundance of cairns. Unmistakable cairn leading you to the east side of the peak. Looking back Looking back at the ridge crest From here the trail gets a little more convoluted, and care needs to be taken while climbing, but it still wasn't too difficult to follow. Very quickly after traversing to the east side I was met with the infamous "leap of faith". The "leap of faith", it was difficult taking this picture on a timer, but I did the best I could Looking back at the trail after the "leap of faith" Very fun! Shortly after that little jump you are greeted with the imposing view of the green wall. I can see where it gets the name. Climbers at the base of the green wall Looking up the first section of the green wall The entrance to the green wall was very similar to the entrance of the hour glass on Little Bear. The only difference being more rock fall on the green wall than in the hour glass, at least on this day! That kind of put me on edge. I slowly climbed my way up the wall which was pretty solid. After a few minutes I saw the exit cairn on the left, but I wanted to go just a little higher to more solid ground. I was taking a breather when I noticed a little weasel running around to the north of the green wall, I was disappointed because it was too fast to photograph! The top of where my exit was on the green wall After traversing left off of the green wall I pretty much just zig-zagged my way up, as said before I followed the abundance of cairns. If you go too far to the left you will experience a nice sheer drop off, "Yup, I'm off route." This is what's left after exiting the green wall, more fun climbing! After ascending to where the climbers are in the photo above you can just about see the summit. It was about here I started to get butterflies, I was almost there! Albeit blurry, you can see climbers on the summit, not too much further! I looked to my right and saw the obvious set of cairns leading to the summit I had seen so many times in previous trip reports. My camera couldn't capture both cairns, but I tried to capture the essence of the climb. Almost there! It was like Christmas morning, looking at all of those presents, and I was about to open them..... Standing on the diving board, on the summit of Pyramid! Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn way off in the distance The Maroon Bells, Snowmass and Capital as seen from the summit Summiters on N. Maroon, could they be the 14ers.com members I met the night before? On the way down I ran into and formally introduced myself to UWE, he was speaking with another climber at our first meeting on the way up so I couldn't really introduce myself, he was a very nice guy! I would've loved to climb Castle/Conundrum with you guys, I thank you so much for the offer! I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any goats up close like on some of the other trip reports I had read previously, that is until I arrived back down on the ridge crest. I don't know if it was the altitude or not, but I could have sworn the Goat was smiling for me at my accomplishment. I swear this goat was happy for me! I couldn't post this trip report without a beautiful picture of the Bells Pyramid Peak is a favorite of mine, but I am still debating on wether it is my all time favorite, it was very loose, very exposed, very hard, but also very gratifying. It has quenched my hunger. I was very excited to get home to tell Amanda all about it, but it is also bittersweet. I don't know if I am finished climbing 14ers for the season, but if I am finished I have to say that I had a blast this season and I loved meeting each and every one of you guys! I met more 14ers.com members this summer than I had the previous 2 summers, probably because I climbed more advanced mountains, I don't know. Anyway, I wouldn't have been able to climb any of these mountains without your input. I hope my input on this mountain might help someone else out in the future! Thanks for reading. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

The Crumbling Pyramid

Last winter I decided I wanted to climb Pyramid peak, and although my grandiose goals usually change as the year progresses this peak was still provoking me. Even after I had climbed some prodigious peaks this season I still wanted the Pyramid. My list of completed peaks this summer was ever growing, and I thought that Little Bear would leave me feeling fulfilled, but it didn't suffice. I tried to convince myself that I had done enough this year and that I could just focus all next summer on the Elks.... wrong. The only way to quench this hunger, this urge, was easy- climb it!

I am starting to feel pretty confident about my route finding skills on harder mountains, and I am starting to get a feel for what class 4 actually means. I seem to know what to expect now before encountering it. I'm not trying to say I'm an expert now but my confidence is growing and it makes me feel pretty good!

Amanda arrived home from work Friday afternoon and I immediately started loading up our newly rented Subaru Impreza. I was kind of excited to drive this fast little car all the way up to Aspen. I didn't want to take my Tacoma because the last time I tried sleeping in the cab I didn't get a wink of sleep, and as I am a camping poltroon I won't sleep in the back of my truck. (Which is funny because a couple of 14er members slept in the back of their Tacoma right next to me!) I left my house at 5:20pm and after a quick refuel in Glenwood Springs I was at the overnight parking lot West Maroon portal area around 9pm. I met 3 14er members there, Chris P, Moonstalker and KrazyK. I spoke with them for about a half an hour, and I learned they were going to be doing the Bells traverse. For a split second I was tempted to ask if I could go with them, but I already told Amanda I was hiking Pyramid. Frankly I don't know if I would've been motivated enough for that long day! Congrats to you 3! Shortly after laying my head down I was fast asleep.

My alarm started talking to me at 4am which wasn't too bad, plus I think the anticipation of this hike was better than a shot of espresso! I got ready, drove up to the day hike parking lot, stretched and was off to satiate my compulsion.

For some reason I was deathly afraid I was going to miss the Pyramid Peak trail cutoff, I had been up here twice before and I never noticed it, I had my eyes peeled. Two hikers started to pass me on the Crater Lake trail and had mentioned they had hiked Pyramid last week. "Perfect!" I thought, and asked them how much further they thought the cutoff was, "another couple of minutes," one hiker answered. About 30 seconds after they said that, there it was, a giant - oddly enough - pyramid shaped cairn! (maybe just my subconscious playing tricks on me) Shortly after turning off the main trail I started feeling the burn in my calves. The trail leading up to the amphitheater was pretty steep, but instead of putting my head down and grinding up the trail I was enjoying the views.

The Maroon Bells as seen from Pyramid Peak trail

I quickly found myself at the entrance to the amphitheater, and was surprised at how much more climbing was still ahead of me before a nice respite. There was still some snow present and I opted to go up that way instead of climbing up the talus. The snow was pretty dirty so I had no troubles just walking right up it.

A group of climbers are present right above the snow field which gives a nice perspective

After the first large snowfield I traversed to the right and found a decent trail and followed it right up to near the top of the hill. Once near the top of the hill I saw a large cairn to my left and hiked over to it and decided to take a break.

Looking down at the entrance to the amphitheater, amazing!

After my short refuel session I decided to get going, I soon realized there wasn't an actual trail that I could follow. There were however, a few cairns that led me to the steep trail in the gulley which takes you up to Pyramid's NE ridge.

The trail goes up the third debris cone from the left, and tops out to the right of the point on the ridge

A closer shot near the beginning of the gulley climb

I met Monique, 14ers.com member "Clemsonclimber" at the bottom of this gulley. She truly is a remarkable woman. It was a pleasure grinding up that trail with you! She was showing a group of people, along with Uwe (14ers.com member "UWE") this wonderful place.

Clemsonclimber and Uwe getting ready to climb up the gulley

I slowly started up the gulley with Clemsonclimber, while her partner Uwe stayed back with another climber. This actually made the climb up the gulley go a little faster, talking while hiking really helps to take your mind off the torture. And yes, this gulley is VERY steep, and loose!

Monique climbs up towards the NE ridge of Pyramid

Very loose!

The Maroon Bells, Snowmass, and Capital as seen from near the NE ridge crest on Pyramid

As I was nearing the North East ridge crest I looked down into the amphitheater and realized something, this mountain is literally crumbling underneath our feet! How many tons of Pyramid peak lays thousands of feet below it's jagged summit? How deep is that rock glacier? Are all the Elk mountains crumbling like this one? Interesting questions that will probably never be answered.

This mountain is crumbling right underneath our feet!

Very near the ridge crest. There is a good trail all the way up.

Ok, according to all the trip reports I have read this is where the fun starts. I hope so because up until this point the trail has been nothing but exorbitantly steep! Well, looking at the remaining route, I still have quite a bit of elevation to gain, but this would be a fun gain!

A look at the remaining route up Pyramid

After refueling I decide to get going, Clemsonclimber waited for her other teamates and we bid a farewell. I followed the good trail over to the base of Pyramid's huge massif, and it led me to the climbers right of the ridge, but don't go too far to the right of the ridge(The cairns will lead you up and over to the other side) I followed the cairns, and the route description to go up and over the ridge to the east side of the peak.

Once you traverse to the other side you will be greeted with an abundance of cairns.

Unmistakable cairn leading you to the east side of the peak. Looking back

Looking back at the ridge crest

From here the trail gets a little more convoluted, and care needs to be taken while climbing, but it still wasn't too difficult to follow. Very quickly after traversing to the east side I was met with the infamous "leap of faith".

The "leap of faith", it was difficult taking this picture on a timer, but I did the best I could

Looking back at the trail after the "leap of faith" Very fun!

Shortly after that little jump you are greeted with the imposing view of the green wall. I can see where it gets the name.

Climbers at the base of the green wall

Looking up the first section of the green wall

The entrance to the green wall was very similar to the entrance of the hour glass on Little Bear. The only difference being more rock fall on the green wall than in the hour glass, at least on this day! That kind of put me on edge. I slowly climbed my way up the wall which was pretty solid. After a few minutes I saw the exit cairn on the left, but I wanted to go just a little higher to more solid ground. I was taking a breather when I noticed a little weasel running around to the north of the green wall, I was disappointed because it was too fast to photograph!

The top of where my exit was on the green wall

After traversing left off of the green wall I pretty much just zig-zagged my way up, as said before I followed the abundance of cairns. If you go too far to the left you will experience a nice sheer drop off, "Yup, I'm off route."

This is what's left after exiting the green wall, more fun climbing!

After ascending to where the climbers are in the photo above you can just about see the summit. It was about here I started to get butterflies, I was almost there!

Albeit blurry, you can see climbers on the summit, not too much further!

I looked to my right and saw the obvious set of cairns leading to the summit I had seen so many times in previous trip reports. My camera couldn't capture both cairns, but I tried to capture the essence of the climb.

Almost there!

It was like Christmas morning, looking at all of those presents, and I was about to open them.....

Standing on the diving board, on the summit of Pyramid!

Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn way off in the distance

The Maroon Bells, Snowmass and Capital as seen from the summit

Summiters on N. Maroon, could they be the 14ers.com members I met the night before?

On the way down I ran into and formally introduced myself to UWE, he was speaking with another climber at our first meeting on the way up so I couldn't really introduce myself, he was a very nice guy! I would've loved to climb Castle/Conundrum with you guys, I thank you so much for the offer!

I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any goats up close like on some of the other trip reports I had read previously, that is until I arrived back down on the ridge crest. I don't know if it was the altitude or not, but I could have sworn the Goat was smiling for me at my accomplishment.

I swear this goat was happy for me!

I couldn't post this trip report without a beautiful picture of the Bells

Pyramid Peak is a favorite of mine, but I am still debating on wether it is my all time favorite, it was very loose, very exposed, very hard, but also very gratifying. It has quenched my hunger. I was very excited to get home to tell Amanda all about it, but it is also bittersweet.
I don't know if I am finished climbing 14ers for the season, but if I am finished I have to say that I had a blast this season and I loved meeting each and every one of you guys! I met more 14ers.com members this summer than I had the previous 2 summers, probably because I climbed more advanced mountains, I don't know. Anyway, I wouldn't have been able to climb any of these mountains without your input. I hope my input on this mountain might help someone else out in the future! Thanks for reading.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

KrazyK	Glad to hear you made it up Pyramid, Jason! 8/31/2009 2:04am It was nice meeting you at the overnight lot; I was the third climber with Chris P and moon stalker. We all ended up doing the S-N traverse, which was a lot of fun! We looked over to Pyramid and saw some people on the summit, possibly you!
uwe	Very Cool! Nice TR and Photos - CONGRATULATIONS! 8/31/2009 6:53pm Hey Jason, Great to meet you! It is always nice to put the face with the boots, if you know what I mean. You nailed it good! 23 peaks this summer. WOW!
JA_son27	Thanks! 8/31/2009 8:43pm It was awesome meeting all of you guys! Thank you for all of your possitive feedback!
EatinHardtack	Very Nice 9/1/2009 3:10am Great Pictures Jason and another ”Great Job!” on this one!
sunny1	The goat IS smiling! 9/1/2009 3:57am Cool picture! Great adventure, excellent write up and beta, Jason! I‘m encouraged to try it - probably next year. Congrats and cheers!
kimo	Progression... 9/3/2009 3:01pm is a wonderful thing. It‘s exciting to watch you and Keith K continue this adventure as it gets more difficult. Great TR as usual!
davebks	7 story mountain 9/4/2009 6:06pm nice report. thanks for posting. I am heading up there this weekend. weather is not looking so good, but either way it ends with a railroad earth concert in aspen! 8)
globreal	Congrats on getting an Elk! 11/30/2010 5:20pm Nice report. And nice job getting the "leap of faith" shot! Looks like you've had quite the summer with as many peaks as the past two summers combined. But, don't think you have to stop climbing now. The fall is one of the best times to get out there! In fact, I‘ve wanted to climb Pikes in winter. Want to come over and join me?
JA_son27	Thanks Globreal! 6/24/2011 11:22pm I am saving Pikes for my finisher next year! But thanks!

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