DESOLATION
We
got up early on Thursday. My goal for
the day was to hike up Pyramid Peak, which is the tallest mountain the
Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe.
Originally, we had planned to backpack in and spend two nights camping
below Pyramid Peak on the west side of Lake Aloha. Our tentative plan had been to climb Pyramid
Peak on the second day of that trip. We
had cancelled the backpacking trip, but climbing Pyramid Peak on a dayhike was still feasible.
My plan was to follow the route on the south side of the mountain, from
highway 50 near Strawberry up Rocky Canyon and then along the south ridge.
It
took about an hour to drive from Blue Lakes to South Lake Tahoe. We headed down highway 50, and spotted the
massive Horsetail Falls on Pyramid Creek.
Christy dropped me off at the “trailhead”, which is just a pulloff along highway 50.
She still wasn’t feeling well, so she was planning to hit an Urgent Care
in South Lake Tahoe while I was hiking.
The
most dangerous part of the hike was probably crossing the highway. I dashed across and started up the steep
slope just east of Rocky Creek. This
first stretch was pretty crappy, as there were lots of bushes and debris on the
hillside. I veered away from the creek,
contouring across the slope. A few
minutes later I stumbled on a beaten path coming up from the road. That trail starts a bit east of the pulloff. It would
have been easier to walk from the pulloff along the
shoulder of the road.
From
there I was able to follow a good route most of the way. The first stretch was extremely steep. The trail stays on the hillside above Rocky
Creek, which falls over countless cascades in a narrow canyon. Eventually the grade eased and the forest
thinned. A bit farther on I came to an
unexpected junction. The well-beaten
path crosses the creek here, while another trail continues ahead. The route description I’d found on Summitpost hadn’t mentioned a creek crossing, but that
write up had been pretty vague. I rock
hopped the creek and continued upstream.
A few minutes later the trail climbed up onto the hillside above the
stream. I wasn’t sure if I was on the
correct route, but I was heading in the right direction, and I wasn’t about to
leave a perfectly good trail.
A
bit later I reached the headwaters of Rocky Creek at the base of some
cliffs. The route wasn’t apparent, but
following a branch of the infant stream through breaks in the cliffs looked
like the only plausible option. That
actually worked, and before long I found myself at the top of the cliffs. Another steep climb brought me to the south
ridge. There was a lot of snow on parts
of the ridge, but it was largely avoidable.
I continued to climb, now on the verge of treeline. I lost the trail on this stretch, but it
didn’t really matter. At that point, I
just needed to keep heading up.
I
reached a saddle at the base of the final 400’ ascent. This part looked terrible. It was basically a huge pile of talus. There
was no way to avoid it, so I started up.
This final stretch was a slow grind.
I focused on avoiding the really huge boulders. It was a constant challenge plotting the
route ahead while watching my footing. I
kept grinding away, and the footing improved for the final stretch. I met a solo hiker on his way down
there. When I reached the summit, I had
it all to myself.
Pyramid
Peak features great views in every direction.
The best vista was to the northeast, over Lake Aloha to Lake Tahoe in
the distance. I found a nice spot for
lunch, and before long I was joined by the resident marmot. He thought that if he posed for photos I was share my GORP, but I didn’t uphold my end of
that bargain.
A
bit later two guys joined me on the summit.
They had climbed the peak from the west.
That route is longer, but has less elevation gain.
After
an hour on the summit it was time to head down.
I took it slow at first, and found the footing a little better a bit
west of my approach route. Once I
reached the bottom of the talus I cranked up the
pace. I was moving fast until that final
stretch, which is so steep that I had to watch my step. I worked my way down slowly and followed the
trail all the way to the highway. I
walked back down the road to the pulloff, where
Christy was waiting for me.
We
drove up highway 89 along the west side of Lake Tahoe. This area was crazy with tourists, but the
scenery was spectacular. We drove on to
Truckee, CA, where I had a surprise for Christy. Her favorite gluten-free beer is brewed in
Portland, Oregon. Prior to the trip, I
found a couple of places in northern California that carry it. One of them was a health food store in
Truckee. We bought a bunch of beer there
before driving downtown for dinner. We
eventually found a parking spot, and ended up eating at Jax at the Tracks. Truckee seemed like a neat little town,
though it was swarming with tourists. We
left town a bit before sunset, with a long drive to Lassen Volcanic National
Park still ahead of us.
Back to California
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!