I used to hike Pyramid fairly often when I was a kid, spending summers at Echo Lake with my grandparents. Pyramid hikes were always hilights of the summer: me, grandpa and our little bichon frise. A lot of peak baggers looked kinda disappointed to top out and find a 70 year old man, a 7 year old kid, and a puffy white marshmallow dog on the summit!
SummitJunkie - Mar 7, 2006 2:06 am Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2005
Route Climbed: West Ridge from Lake Sylvia
Wow what a butt kicker!! 2000 feet of elevation gain in less then a mile once you reach the lake!! Great views, will do it again at least twice this season!!
SECOND ASCENT: September 21,2005. Climbed from Lake Sylvia again but this time combined with a traverse to Agassiz and Price. Great Day.
BCL - Feb 23, 2006 5:02 pm Date Climbed: Dec 17, 2004
Route Climbed: S ridge Date Climbed: 15 October, 2005
Started out at the Horsetail Falls TH (Twin Bridges) at 10.11. X-country-ied it up mostly 3rd class steps to the ridgeline. Had to catch up to the others at the S ridge after multiple unsuccessful attempts to get through snow-covered 4th & easy 5th class headwall below the plateau at the base of the S ridge (finally took a 3rd & 4th class ramp system that got me to the top).
Summited at 15.35. A cloud that tried to envelop us from the W at least didn't obscure great view of Lake Tahoe, as well as some nice views of Lake Aloha, the Crystal Range, & Lovers Leap.
Took the oddly-named Rocky Canyon trail back down, leaving the summit at 16.05- really steep, but quite efficient at getting one down.
Fun dayhike in pretty country with fun people- Gordon, Eszter, Kassim, Steve, & Kelly.
2.14.'10
Faith & I did the S ridge after coming up the drainage, then taking a right to reach the ridge, which we followed to the peak. Gorgeous day & great views. Windy at the top! Passed some guys on the way up who were doing a tremendous job postholing- props, guys- an admirable effort (although they sadly didn't summit).
Left road at 9.00, back to the road at 18.00.
Got my ass handed to me on a platter coming down the blue slopes on the sticks (had been doing resort double blacks the day before)- if you can handle the Sierra Cement in the backcountry, you can handle any snow conditions, as far as I'm concerned!
Route Climbed: variation of Horsetail Falls up, Rocky Canyon descent Date Climbed: October 15, 2005
Climbed with Dirk, Eszter, Kassim, Steve, Kelly. We were initially discouraged by the snow fall early in the morning and the prospect of more precipitation during our climb, but luckily the weather gradually improved. From the Pyramid Creek trail we scrambled up slabs farther to the left (west) of the normal trail, then took a line of least resistance over talus and slabs covered with 3-5" of new snow. This is a great place with lots of 3rd and occasional 4th class variations to choose from. Fast-moving low clouds constantly swarming over the high peaks made for dramatic views.
Route Climbed: SW route via Lake Aloha Date Climbed: Sept 30, 2004
After a nice hike through Desolation Wilderness, I summited Pyramid Peak. Beautiful weather and an incredible view from the summit, made for a great day!
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon Date Climbed: October 2, 2005
Nice hike. Cloudy day though. The summit was engulfed in clouds within minutes of my arrival. Luckily I got a few pictures before my view was obscured. Cold and windy on the ridge.
Route Climbed: West Ridge from Lake Sylvia Date Climbed: September 7 2005
Wow what a butt kicker!! 2000 feet of elevation gain in less then a mile once you reach the lake!! Great views, will do it again at least twice this season!!
SECOND ASCENT: September 21,2005. Climbed from Lake Sylvia again but this time combined with a traverse to Agassiz and Price. Great Day.
Route Climbed: East Face Date Climbed: August 2001
Climbed the east face from Horsetail falls in August. Found my way up the coliour and scrambled around to the south ridge. Big mistake was that I didn't take enough water and there is no water on the south shoulder in August. Was seriously dehydrated when I got back down to Pyramid Lake and 2 hikers pumped some water for me. Lesson learned....bought a Camel Back and a filter.
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon/ S.E. Ridge Date Climbed: May 22, 2005
In search of snow, now that the ski resorts had all closed, a group consisting of Milind, Ajay, Akshay, Ritwik, Shekhar and Ram ascended this route.
Three of us (Ajay, Milind, Akshay) had our alpine skis and boots in our packs. We started climbing at 5800' where Rocky Canyon meets hwy 50 at 9:51am , and reached the summit at 5:00pm. The heavy skis definitely weighed us down. 4 of us (Ritwik the only one without skis) summitted, and then Ajay, Akshay and Milind skied down reversing our ascent, all the way to about 7800ft, where we took skis off to cross Rocky Canyon, and packed them the rest of the way down. We started skking at 5:30pm, and reached the hwy again at 7:45pm. Wih approx 4100 ft of ascent, this is a strenuous hike up, especially if you carry alpine ski gear!
Route Climbed: southeast ridge Date Climbed: 2 Apr 2005
Much harder in the winter, though if we had enough time, we would have made it to the tip top. none-the-less, it was still amazing being up there with all the snow.
Route Climbed: Up Horsetail Falls/ Down Rocky Canyon Date Climbed: 19 Februrary 2005
I made this climb with my friends Ted,Rick, and Andrew. We got hit with a storm about 1,000 feet from the summit so we made the summit in complete white out conditions. I used snow shoes for the approach and crampons and ice axe for the last 500 ft which was windblown ice along the ridge line. It was a lot fun but no views due to the storm.
ckerth - May 26, 2006 9:04 pm
Horsetail FallsClimbed from Horsetail Falls as part of a weekend backpacking trip into Desloation.
jfrishmanIII - Mar 24, 2006 4:24 am
Highpoint of my youthI used to hike Pyramid fairly often when I was a kid, spending summers at Echo Lake with my grandparents. Pyramid hikes were always hilights of the summer: me, grandpa and our little bichon frise. A lot of peak baggers looked kinda disappointed to top out and find a 70 year old man, a 7 year old kid, and a puffy white marshmallow dog on the summit!
SummitJunkie - Mar 7, 2006 2:06 am Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2005
Route Climbed: West Ridge from Lake SylviaWow what a butt kicker!! 2000 feet of elevation gain in less then a mile once you reach the lake!! Great views, will do it again at least twice this season!!
SECOND ASCENT: September 21,2005. Climbed from Lake Sylvia again but this time combined with a traverse to Agassiz and Price. Great Day.
BCL - Feb 23, 2006 5:02 pm Date Climbed: Dec 17, 2004
Rocky CanyonGot off route and had to do a bit of bushwacking.
Brian Frederick - Jan 21, 2006 10:01 pm
Route Climbed: From Lake Aloha Date Climbed: SeptemberClimbed with my favorite climbing partner Chris and my wife Robin. Great views, long talus slog
96avs01 - Nov 12, 2005 5:16 am
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: April 24, 2005A perfect outing, we had the whole area to ourselves. A little extra snowshoeing on Hwy 4, but the summit was worth it!
Diggler - Oct 18, 2005 4:26 pm
Route Climbed: S ridge Date Climbed: 15 October, 2005Started out at the Horsetail Falls TH (Twin Bridges) at 10.11. X-country-ied it up mostly 3rd class steps to the ridgeline. Had to catch up to the others at the S ridge after multiple unsuccessful attempts to get through snow-covered 4th & easy 5th class headwall below the plateau at the base of the S ridge (finally took a 3rd & 4th class ramp system that got me to the top).
Summited at 15.35. A cloud that tried to envelop us from the W at least didn't obscure great view of Lake Tahoe, as well as some nice views of Lake Aloha, the Crystal Range, & Lovers Leap.
Took the oddly-named Rocky Canyon trail back down, leaving the summit at 16.05- really steep, but quite efficient at getting one down.
Fun dayhike in pretty country with fun people- Gordon, Eszter, Kassim, Steve, & Kelly.
2.14.'10
Faith & I did the S ridge after coming up the drainage, then taking a right to reach the ridge, which we followed to the peak. Gorgeous day & great views. Windy at the top! Passed some guys on the way up who were doing a tremendous job postholing- props, guys- an admirable effort (although they sadly didn't summit).
Left road at 9.00, back to the road at 18.00.
Got my ass handed to me on a platter coming down the blue slopes on the sticks (had been doing resort double blacks the day before)- if you can handle the Sierra Cement in the backcountry, you can handle any snow conditions, as far as I'm concerned!
gordonye - Oct 17, 2005 7:42 pm
Route Climbed: variation of Horsetail Falls up, Rocky Canyon descent Date Climbed: October 15, 2005Climbed with Dirk, Eszter, Kassim, Steve, Kelly. We were initially discouraged by the snow fall early in the morning and the prospect of more precipitation during our climb, but luckily the weather gradually improved. From the Pyramid Creek trail we scrambled up slabs farther to the left (west) of the normal trail, then took a line of least resistance over talus and slabs covered with 3-5" of new snow. This is a great place with lots of 3rd and occasional 4th class variations to choose from. Fast-moving low clouds constantly swarming over the high peaks made for dramatic views.
Sierra Scrambler 30 - Oct 11, 2005 11:31 pm
Route Climbed: SW route via Lake Aloha Date Climbed: Sept 30, 2004After a nice hike through Desolation Wilderness, I summited Pyramid Peak. Beautiful weather and an incredible view from the summit, made for a great day!
Trail Dog - Oct 4, 2005 6:12 pm
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon Date Climbed: October 2, 2005Nice hike. Cloudy day though. The summit was engulfed in clouds within minutes of my arrival. Luckily I got a few pictures before my view was obscured. Cold and windy on the ridge.
ClimbingJunkie - Sep 7, 2005 10:59 pm
Route Climbed: West Ridge from Lake Sylvia Date Climbed: September 7 2005Wow what a butt kicker!! 2000 feet of elevation gain in less then a mile once you reach the lake!! Great views, will do it again at least twice this season!!
SECOND ASCENT: September 21,2005. Climbed from Lake Sylvia again but this time combined with a traverse to Agassiz and Price. Great Day.
davis13 - Jul 25, 2005 4:04 pm
Route Climbed: East Face Date Climbed: August 2001Climbed the east face from Horsetail falls in August. Found my way up the coliour and scrambled around to the south ridge. Big mistake was that I didn't take enough water and there is no water on the south shoulder in August. Was seriously dehydrated when I got back down to Pyramid Lake and 2 hikers pumped some water for me. Lesson learned....bought a Camel Back and a filter.
reachmp - May 30, 2005 10:26 pm
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon/ S.E. Ridge Date Climbed: May 22, 2005In search of snow, now that the ski resorts had all closed, a group consisting of Milind, Ajay, Akshay, Ritwik, Shekhar and Ram ascended this route.
Three of us (Ajay, Milind, Akshay) had our alpine skis and boots in our packs. We started climbing at 5800' where Rocky Canyon meets hwy 50 at 9:51am , and reached the summit at 5:00pm. The heavy skis definitely weighed us down. 4 of us (Ritwik the only one without skis) summitted, and then Ajay, Akshay and Milind skied down reversing our ascent, all the way to about 7800ft, where we took skis off to cross Rocky Canyon, and packed them the rest of the way down. We started skking at 5:30pm, and reached the hwy again at 7:45pm. Wih approx 4100 ft of ascent, this is a strenuous hike up, especially if you carry alpine ski gear!
danman3156 - Apr 18, 2005 12:48 pm
Route Climbed: SE Ridge Date Climbed: April 10 2005We snowshoed up and set up camp below the mountain around 8800'. Summited early and booked in back to the car. Next time I go back I will ski down.
neocrash - Apr 9, 2005 12:01 am
Route Climbed: southeast ridge Date Climbed: 2 Apr 2005Much harder in the winter, though if we had enough time, we would have made it to the tip top. none-the-less, it was still amazing being up there with all the snow.
Eric L - Feb 20, 2005 9:33 pm
Route Climbed: Up Horsetail Falls/ Down Rocky Canyon Date Climbed: 19 Februrary 2005I made this climb with my friends Ted,Rick, and Andrew. We got hit with a storm about 1,000 feet from the summit so we made the summit in complete white out conditions. I used snow shoes for the approach and crampons and ice axe for the last 500 ft which was windblown ice along the ridge line. It was a lot fun but no views due to the storm.
labang - Oct 11, 2004 2:43 am
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon Date Climbed: October 10th, 2004Nice hike all the way from Highway 50 to the summit and back. Lake Aloha had very little water in it.
stoneman5 - Sep 13, 2004 7:42 pm
Route Climbed: Ridge from Route 50 Date Climbed: March 2002Did this as an overnight for the fun of sleeping in the snow. Had perfect corn for an hour in the morning from the top.
josephgdawson - Aug 27, 2004 4:02 am
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon/SE Ridge Date Climbed: August 21, 2004"Bag it, tag it, sell it to the butcher in the store."
Samantha - Jun 21, 2004 12:59 pm
Route Climbed: Rocky Canyon/SE Ridge Date Climbed: June 20This climb was much more enjoyable the second time because I found the trail 100 feet east of the creek. Thanks SP.