Pyramid Mountain / Pyramid Peak — Friday, Jul. 7, 2023

My hubby and I decided to ride our bicycles along the Spruce Railroad Trail with intent that on our way back we would stop and hike the Pyramid Peak trail (Rather than driving all the way around the lake from PA to the parking for this hike, note that this trail is also accessed 5 miles down paved trail from the parking lot for Spruce RR trail- so if you drive around you will cross Spruce trail to access this hike.) We locked our bikes up and headed up the trail. At about .5 mile in, there is a new tree down with a thick trunk you can straddle over fairly easily but hopefully will be cut thru soon for you to pass more easily. At first the grade is gradual (like a mountain bike trail) thru a nice thick moss forest! We noticed salal berries and orange lilys. Note that the trail is dry and dusty but in good shape, until you hit that washout zone, yep, it is legit hairy, it's loose scree and pumice,with a foot wide trail for about 100 yards with shoots straight down the mountain for 100s of feet should you fall. We saw several turn around here and without poles, they aren't wrong! We felt good with proper hiking shoes, poles and slow stepping, flattening piles of pumice and pebbles out in each step. We had a few small loose rocks fall as we were crossing so we wondered about our choice to pass here. All is well again for the most part once you cross the slide area. The trail starts climbing more like a switchback hiking trail up the side of this peak, you gain elevation fast and get a few peeks of Lake Crescent along the way on this forest hike. There were about 3 more blowdowns with 1 additional (somewhat) hairy crawl over a downed log, as the dirt on the ledge where the log is resting has some loose dirt, step carefully, mindful is the key here again. Near the top there are 2 peeking tom trails for those anxious near the top but just keep going. (Note this felt longer than 3.5 miles up) Once at the top you are rewarded with a cool lookout structure and 360 views of Lake Crescent, the Strait and glacier carved foothills. A shoutout of thanks to the family that headed back ahead of us, as the path across the scree was flattened down and seemed much easier to cross on the way back, also on the way back thru this section, you are heading uphill which definitely makes for easier traverse and foot placement. A very adventurous day with a nice bike ride and rewarding hike, if you bike you can also stop for a swim in the lake!