I had Pyramid Peak all to myself on this picture-perfect day. Like another trip reporter suggested, I parked at the picnic parking area just after the “trailhead” (which is barely a pullout anyway). This adds only a few hundred feet to the hike but provides better parking and a vault toilet. 

There was one car there when I arrived and none at the pullout. As I was gearing up, the driver of the other car showed up with a bloodied knee and said the slide area was too treacherous and he gave up there. 

I wished him well, thanked him for the warning and set out to at least get to the slide and assess. It’s definitely worse than when I did this one a few years back. There are a couple of spots in the crossing that have no tread, just piles of pebbles momentarily paused in their journey downhill. With good boots and poles, though, I pressed through and made it with careful foot placement. 

Other than the spicy slide area, the trail’s in pretty good shape. There are a handful of blowdowns to be super-/sub-/circum-navigated, but none was too much of a hassle. 

The last maybe 3/4 mile is covered with snow but has a good bootpack. I didn’t break out the spikes or anything. It was a little cool through the woods, but it was t-shirt weather in the brilliant sun at the cabin. 

I wasn’t looking forward to crossing the slide again, but it’s maybe slightly better on the return, given the angles and grading. 

Other than the poor guy with the skinned knee, the only other people I saw the whole time were what appeared to be a father/son team at the slide on my return. They were camped out there soaking in the views down to Lake Crescent and didn’t seem prepared to try to cross. Probably smarter than me. 

It’s a shame about that sketchy part. It’s such a great hike otherwise. 

Lots of cars/people at the picnic area when I returned around 2:30 p.m. Most seemed to be picnickers or bikers, not heading up the peak. 

We parked at the North Shore Picnic Area, which is a couple of tenths of a mile past the trailhead.  This site has a pit toilet, and there is a path, past the pit toilet, that winds around and connects to the trailhead for Pyramid Peak.  There is also a few spots for parking along the road, closer to the trailhead.

The first half of the trail to the landslide section is very mellow- the trail is not very steep, and the tread is wide.  As we approached the landslide, we ran into two parties who had looked at that section and decided to turn back.  We looked at that section, and felt that it was manageable, particularly with trekking poles.  As others had indicated, the trail through the landslide area was more challenging going toward the peak, as the trail in that direction was mostly downhill, and therefore less controlled. (But it was then easier heading back in the other direction.)  Mostly the tread through the slide was probably a foot wide or so, although there were a few spots that were probably half that width.  As others had indicated in their trail reports, if you decide to do this stretch, take it slow and be careful. 

Past the slide, the trail was generally in good shape, with a few logs across the trail, and a few places where the tread was narrowed.  The steepness also increases considerably in the last portion of the trail.

The view from the summit is great, particularly looking toward the east end of Crescent Lake.  Overall, a trail where the effort expended is compensated for by the view.

Wow - what a great "under the radar" gem of a hike!  Got to the TH at about 10:30 and there was only one other vehicle parked there.  Thank you to WTA for the excellent directions to the TH in their narrative.  Parking is in the shade which is lovely when returning to a vehicle after having been gone for awhile.  There are no toilets at the TH and unfortunately I did note several instances of toilet paper left on the ground.  How hard is it to put your toilet paper in a bag after doing your business?  

This is indeed a wonderful hike for a hot day as it is probably 75% shade with dappled sunlight.  The first half of the hike has minimal elevation change.  There is that difficult area referenced in the description which is mostly level with some slight elevation change-- but has very loose small rock on a steep face with no foliage to block your fall and requires very careful navigation.  The views right here are excellent BTW.  After you get through that, for the second 1/2 of the hike basically - you will face most of the elevation--so get ready for lots of uphill at this point. 

Probably one of the best things about this hike was that the trail was so smooth--not a ton of rocks and roots compared to other areas of Washington.  This made it very pleasant.  When you feel like you are finally at the top, don't stop until you get to the former lookout structure.  There is a point that seems like the stopping point before that but if you go just a very small amount further you will get to the lookout and the best views of Lake Crescent. 

I am firmly in middle age and found this hike perfect in terms of strenuous but not over the top for me.  It was so refreshing to not have to navigate over soooo many roots and rocks (i.e., so many of the Mt. Rainier hikes).  I agree with a previous review that this is a great alternative to Mt. Storm King.  The elevation is stretched out over a longer mileage and there are few people.  We only saw 2 other people the entire time - when we almost back to the TH start.

Be aware there are about three trees to go over and four to go under along the trail.  

Addendum:  I read in another trip report that if you go a little further past the TH sign, there are porta potties near a parking area. 

This is a very nice trail that leads to some great views of the lake. There is a short section that is a little sketchy, in this section the trail is narrow, loose, with a steep drop off... luckily it's a short section and very doable just take it slow. There is also a muddy section, otherwise it's lovely.

This hike was recommended to us over Mt. storm king & we were not disappointed! Beautiful weather & good views of lake crescent. The trail is shaded majority of the way which helped with the heat. There are some trees on the trail you have to navigate going under/over along with the portion of the trail that had been washed out. Had no problem with these obstacles using hiking poles. We saw about 5 other groups on the trail. Bugs started getting bad towards the top of the mountain. I would definitely recommend bringing bug spray. If you go a couple hundred feet up the trail at the top you’ll run into the old WW2 fire like out. If you’re looking for a little longer/more strenuous hike with great views & smaller crowds, I would recommend this as an alternative to Mt, Storm King. My watch clocked me at 3 hours 21 minutes top to bottom & 7.45 miles