June 29 2012
Pyramid Peak is considered to be one of the most difficult 14ers in Colorado and it is located in a beautiful area. My 10 year old son and I decided to make the climb together for some father-son time. Shaylee, my daughter and my wife would come along as well, but they would stay down at Crater Lake while Kessler and I made the climb.
The plan was to get a late afternoon start to hike up to Crater Lake, but Kim got stuck at work late and we didn’t leave the trailhead until after 8 pm. We hurried to the lake with our backpacks and arrived in a pretty quick 45 minutes. It took a while to find an empty campsite and we set up camp in the dark.
We me Kevin, his 15 year old son Tristen and his 13 year old Chance who was camped next to us. He knew Kessler and expressed his interest in joining us, so we agreed to do a joint climb of Pyramid in the morning.
June 30 2012
Kim and Shaylee stayed behind at the lake, while Kessler and I headed from Crater Lake shortly after 6:30 AM. Once we started up the steep slope we saw the others below and waited for them to catch up. Kessler and Chance were the speedy climbers of the bunch and they had to wait for the rest of us several times. After crossing a few snowfields, we we climbed up to the saddle where I told Kessler to wait for us (they beat us by 25 minutes).
![Pyramid Peak]()
Kessler approaching Pyramid Peak on June 30 2012. Pyramid Peak has a fearsome reputation, but we didn't find it overly difficult.
Kessler, Chance and I made the rest of the climb to Pyramid. We were ahead while Tristan and Kevin took up the rear. The route up to Pyramid had some fun exposed scrambles, but was easier than expected, especially the route-finding part. We got off route a little once, but other than that the route was pretty obvious and easy to find.
![Ledges]()
Crossing some of the ledges on Pyramid Peak.![Pyramid]()
Climbing Pyramid Peak with my 10 year old son Kessler and his 13 year old friend Chance. Pyramid Peak is one of the most difficult 14,000+ feet mountains in Colorado.![High on Pyramid]()
Kessler and Chance summiting Pyramid Peak. East Maroon Creek can be seen 4500 feet below.![Climbing Pyramid]()
Climbing Pyramid Peak.![Mountain Goat]()
Mountain goat as seen from the summit of Pyramid Peak.![Summit]()
Summit of Pyramid Peak.
We found ourselves at the top in just under 4.5 hours of climbing. After a long lunch to wait for the others we headed back down. At the saddle, Kessler and Chance went on ahead and beat us to the lake by 45 minutes. We then bid farewell to the others before packing up camp and heading back down to the trailhead.
![Mountain Goat]()
On the descent, we had to climb around this guy. We didn't think he was going to move.![Climbing Pyramid]()
Descending Pyramid Peak. Kevin is on top, Kessler in in the chimney and chance is below.
It was a great climb and with perfect weather.
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