Colorado Adventures 2010: Part II

Our fishing itch temporarily scratched, Corey and I embarked on the longest leg of our trip from Walden to Aspen:

We're there, man. We're there.

We wanted to tackle a 14er on this trip, and we were looking for something more challenging than either of us had climbed in the past. Corey suggested Pyramid Peak, just across the valley from the famous Maroon Bells. The route is relatively short (8 miles rountrip), but it includes 4,500 feet of elevation gain. There are 3 steep sections of the climb, and the last section includes a fair amount of class 4 terrain. The website 14ers.com has a very cool 3D flyover of the entire route here. Because of the danger of falling rock on this route, we first stopped at a shop in Aspen to rent a climbing helmet for me. Then we had some pizza, bought some basic food for the hike, and headed up to the trailhead parking lot to sleep in the car. Friday morning we woke up at 3:30, had some instant coffee, and were hiking by 3:45. I couldn't believe how comfortable it was, I started in a t-shirt expecting to add layers as we climbed, but all the way to the summit it was warm, crisp, and calm. A perfect Colorado day.


A quick rest after climbing out of the amphitheater, with the northeast ridge in the background


Corey navigates an exposed section on the final push to the summit


Corey signs the register with the Maroon Bells in the background


Proof we made it... even if they never bothered to stamp the elevation


Traversing the infamous ledge on the way back down, with an unimpressed mountain goat nearby


Goat looking thoughtful

This was an amazing climb. The Aspen area had seen heavy rains for several days, and we were concerned about the weather interfering with our climb. As it turned out, it was just perfect. Our round trip time was 9 hours, and we got back to the car just seconds before a big storm moved through. From the trailhead we went to the shop to return my helmet, stopped by the rec center for some showers (we were getting a little ripe after all the activity), and drove into Aspen to hit up the Ute Mountaineer for some supplies for the next leg of our adventure. We both felt that we'd eaten enough GORP and peanut butter bagels on the hike to last us for the drive to Montrose.