PYRAMID PEAK 8/7/91
PYRAMID PEAK 14,018'
Mountain........Pyramid Peak
Elevation.........14,018
Rank...............47th
Range..............Elk
Trail length......3 miles
Elevation gain..4000'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........Mostly straight and steep
TRIP REPORT
8/7/91
Another year, another flight to Denver. I drove to Glenwood Springs and got a room at the Affordable (ha!) Inn. Then I spent two days fooling around near Capitol Peak (trip report is under Capitol) and one day in Aspen. Then I set my alarm for 4 the next morning.
The alarm worked, but I spent 10 minutes lying there trying to decide if I should bandage up my nastily blistered foot (from the Capitol frolic) and attempt Pyramid. Finally I got up, despite bad omens - the previous night's episode of thirtysomething featured the "Gary's Dead" episode!; and I woke to hear REM playing "Don't Go Back to Rockville" (my hometown).
I got to the Maroon Lake parking lot at 5 and hiked in the dark with a flashlight until I found the Pyramid cutoff at about 5:45. It was a sketchy trail with a lot of whacking bushes, and very steep, but the objective was pretty clear - the large 'amphitheater' below Pyramid Peak.
I arrived at the amphitheater and as I crossed it angling left I heard the echoing sound of rocks falling off Pyramid's north face (as much as it's crumbling, I'm surprised it's still a fourteener). Then I scrambled up the very very steep dirt slide on the north ridge to the 13,000' saddle.
The route from here was a little tricky but I was early and took my time. There was one scary spot where the ridge joins the summit cone involving a quick shuffle across some steep white slabs; after that the going was steep and loose, but not much exposure so I comfortably hopped and skipped up to the summit. I signed the register as light flurries blew by, and I took the picture that's on the 'Maroon Peak' page. It was windy with temps around 40, as it had been since the parking lot.
On the ridge down it hailed; on the dirt slide it was raining and very slick, so I had to be extra cautious. Nobody else was coming up, and no one had signed in for two days at the top - I was surprised that this wasn't a more popular climb.
I returned to my room at the Christiania and had dinner at the Mining Company of Aspen - a little pricy with wine but it made for a good celebration.
The next day I drove over Independence Pass to Buena Vista for a taco salad at Casa del Sol (good), then on to Alamosa where I wrote postcards and prepared for a one-day ascent of Kit Carson.
Mountain........Pyramid Peak
Elevation.........14,018
Rank...............47th
Range..............Elk
Trail length......3 miles
Elevation gain..4000'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........Mostly straight and steep
TRIP REPORT
8/7/91
Another year, another flight to Denver. I drove to Glenwood Springs and got a room at the Affordable (ha!) Inn. Then I spent two days fooling around near Capitol Peak (trip report is under Capitol) and one day in Aspen. Then I set my alarm for 4 the next morning.
The alarm worked, but I spent 10 minutes lying there trying to decide if I should bandage up my nastily blistered foot (from the Capitol frolic) and attempt Pyramid. Finally I got up, despite bad omens - the previous night's episode of thirtysomething featured the "Gary's Dead" episode!; and I woke to hear REM playing "Don't Go Back to Rockville" (my hometown).
I got to the Maroon Lake parking lot at 5 and hiked in the dark with a flashlight until I found the Pyramid cutoff at about 5:45. It was a sketchy trail with a lot of whacking bushes, and very steep, but the objective was pretty clear - the large 'amphitheater' below Pyramid Peak.
I arrived at the amphitheater and as I crossed it angling left I heard the echoing sound of rocks falling off Pyramid's north face (as much as it's crumbling, I'm surprised it's still a fourteener). Then I scrambled up the very very steep dirt slide on the north ridge to the 13,000' saddle.
The route from here was a little tricky but I was early and took my time. There was one scary spot where the ridge joins the summit cone involving a quick shuffle across some steep white slabs; after that the going was steep and loose, but not much exposure so I comfortably hopped and skipped up to the summit. I signed the register as light flurries blew by, and I took the picture that's on the 'Maroon Peak' page. It was windy with temps around 40, as it had been since the parking lot.
On the ridge down it hailed; on the dirt slide it was raining and very slick, so I had to be extra cautious. Nobody else was coming up, and no one had signed in for two days at the top - I was surprised that this wasn't a more popular climb.
I returned to my room at the Christiania and had dinner at the Mining Company of Aspen - a little pricy with wine but it made for a good celebration.
The next day I drove over Independence Pass to Buena Vista for a taco salad at Casa del Sol (good), then on to Alamosa where I wrote postcards and prepared for a one-day ascent of Kit Carson.
posted by JansStores at 6:03 AM
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