Hike started out with just a few inches of snow with no problems to pass. However the washout proved very treacherous. I’ve hiked this trail a lot and never found the washout intimidating, but the snow/ice conditions made it pretty scary. We almost turned around here, luckily I had brought microspikes. My companion hadn’t but I lent him one of mine and we hobbled through. By then time we came back enough of the snow had melted that the washout was easy.

As we got into the last quarter of the hike, the snow got very steep. Snowshoes were helpful to break trail, and weren’t needed in the way down.

All in all very doable just prepare for the washout. The snow was great for seeing tracks - bobcat had walked almost the entire trail before us!

I was surprised how good the trail conditions were today. Zero snow, very little mud at all, and zero obstructions across the trail once you reach the ridgeline part of the route. As was mentioned in a previous November post there is a large blow down and root ball tear out that takes some navigation near the 2mi point. Prior to that there are a couple medium sized obstacles that take minimal amount of yoga moves to navigate. Still a great trail with few other hikers (dogs or not).

I don't usually write trip reports anymore, despite how much volunteer trail work I do and crews I lead on our beloved ONP and ONF trails. Today I am writing a trip report on Pyramid Peak trail mostly just to say I'm done maintaining this trail. It's gotten a LOT of work from crews I've led over the past 6 or 7 years (formerly with WTA and past couple of years with the Gray Wolf Trail Crew). We have repaired tread, brushed with power brushers, raked, widened tread, mitigated risk on the landslide many times over (which always slides again but that can't be helped), sawed out many dozens of downed trees - many of them very large and/or technical or had been problematic for years ...

Had we not done the work we've put into that trail over the past years, I hate to think of the condition it would have been in by now.

What's wrong is not the trail itself but the constant presence of dogs on this Olympic National Park trail. Literally every time I've hiked or worked on this trail, there have been dogs or multiple dogs - and every single one of them comes with an owner that thinks the rules don't apply to them. None of them turn around to take the dog back home after being informed that dogs are not allowed on ONP trails.

Today's *unleashed and untrained* young dog had an owner who was exceptionally arrogant and - apparently - above the rules ... and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. I realized every time we clear or repair this trail, we're just making the dog run more accessible. 

At mile 2 there is a large tree down with a huge rip in the tread right before it from another tree going down and the entire gigantic rootball tore the tread out. The tree that's crossing the tread is quite difficult to get over. We analyzed the problem and discussed our plan for how we (Gray Wolf Trail Crew) would clear that tree when we came back in with a saw (today was a scouting hike). We also started to formulate a plan to repair the tread, but then the last-straw dog happened after that, and the brewing decision was made. 

Despite all the work we've done to keep this trail in good condition over the years, that ends now. We have many other trails to work on that don't have rule-flouting dog owners. I wonder what kind of condition the dog run will be in after a few harsh NW winters and wind storms. Perhaps the dog owners will step up and help out on the trail they obviously think belongs to them. 

CAUTION:

There is a rock/land slide warning for this trail. Near the halfway mark there is a narrow rocky trail hugging the mountain side. The trail is rocky making it slippery and the rock on the mountain is loose and difficult to grab. If anyone wants to hike this trail I'd recommend not hiking solo in case of any endangering situations and also using trekking poles.

We made it 2/3 of the way across and decided to turn back due to the dangerous conditions. Although there is a look out at Crescent Lake when you get to the 1/2 way point and assumingly on the peak as well. Along the trail there were fallen trees making it pretty difficult to cross. This trail at the start is good but not very well kept. Probably hadn't been trekked in some time. There is also fall foliage and a nice shady hike which is good since today was a hot and in the 80s. 

The trail has some nice plants called the "Ghost Plant" or "Indian Pipe" (Monotropa Uniflora) They are really cool plants that grow by taking the nutrients from trees roots since they can't perform photosynthesis. I wouldn't really recommend this trail because of that section but if you really want to check it out it's nice.

Beautiful hike up until I’m guessing about 1.25-1.75 miles in! Fallen trees make it impassable, and trust me I tried but figured with the washout area ahead best to respect Mother Nature & not press my luck!