Mt. Price to Pyramid Peak

After ending up on portions of the ridge between Mt. Price and Pyramid Peak multiple times in the last couple of years, I always considered doing the whole ridge. But after some mapping and contemplation I would look at the options to get onto it and consider it too much mileage and elevation gain to do. But after a few summer trips and a bit of consistent running I decided it was time to take on the challenge and go for it!

The ridge line looking south right after getting onto the ridge.

Trip Logistics

There are quite a few ways to get onto the ridge but I settled on coming from the east side. This allowed me to spend all of my time on trail. One could theoretically hike this but it would result in a really long day so I opted to run the on trail sections and move as quickly as I could off trail and on the ridge. All in all it ended up being an 8 hour 20 mile day with 5400 feet of elevation gain. This portion of the Crystal Range contains a bit of exciting 3rd class terrain scattered in between consistent 2nd class scrambling making for a fun alpine experience just outside of Lake Tahoe. Definitely not a run for the faint of heart.

Map

Gear

I did not bring any technical climbing gear on this adventure but I did have a fair amount of other stuff. It was projected to be a little chilly so I packed up on layers.

• Ultimate Direction AK 3.0 Hydration Pack (1 L of water capacity) 
• Light windbreaker
• 1/4 zip light fleece 
• Head wrap
• Hat
• Sawyer Mini filter
• Trekking Poles (nice for the ups)
• 6 Lara Bars
• 2 gels 
• Headlamp 
• GPS Watch 

Bring whatever you feel you need. This was my first big solo alpine adventure so I probably over packed on gear. I did fall a little short on food though, I would have been in a sticky situation if it took me any longer. A GPS device of some sort is highly recommended though as finding the trail on portions of this run was quite difficult without one.

Trip Report

Friday evening I left the Bay Area in search of some good Tahoe running. I arrived around the area at 1 am and slept in the car. I was up by 6 am and at the Echo Lakes trailhead and left promptly at 7am. The sun had already risen but it was barely 40 degrees out so I started in the fleece. Even though it was quite cold, I was in good company with a couple of other backpackers just arriving and shivering as much as I was.

Echo Lakes

The Pacific Crest Trail starts fairly groomed and nice but gets a little rougher higher up. Watch your ankles as a sprain within the first few miles will surely end your day. After 4.5 miles I reached the saddle. I passed the turn off to the Lake of the Woods that I would come back up at the end of the day and continued straight towards Lake Aloha.

After 3/4 of a mile I reached the first turn off to Lake Aloha. A left turn would put you right at the lake which is fine but would add a little bit of mileage. I opted to continue straight, continuing on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The ridge line

 I eventually reached Lake Aloha. The water level seemed a little low but it was pretty as always. I continued northwest on the Pacific Crest Trail. Eventually I ran into the turnoff, veering left towards Mosquito Pass.

Continue to the left of the sign

After around a half mile Mosquito Pass was in view and I could see my route up towards the ridge. I took this time to jump off the trail and refill my bottles before I headed up onto the ridge. It would be about 4.5 hours until I was able to refill.

Mosquito Pass from Lake Aloha. You go up on the ridge to the left

After refilling my bottles I continued on upwards to Mosquito Pass. At the saddle I stowed my poles and took a left off trail, this is where the fun begins! Just continue upwards and you should be good. My very advanced route finding technique consisted of my looking for the easiest way up and giving that a shot. The terrain is no more than 2nd class so unless you are trying to be super efficient almost any way upwards should do. I aimed for the the saddle on the ridge that appeared to have the easiest way up to it.

The going was slow but the rock was solid and the angle was definitely manageable. Eventually I made it onto the ridge, just north of the summit. I took a quick water and food break and continued on to the third class fun!

I wish I had some good route finding advice outside of find the easiest way up. The path is generally fairly obvious and the rock is very solid so go whatever way you are comfortable with.

Price as seen from the ridge

After some scrambling I made the summit! That was my second time on top of Mt. Price but the views and experience were still incredible. I took a little breather, signed the summit register, and continued on my way towards Agassiz. It looked like it would be annoying to hang left on the ridge so I dropped down and continued a little bit right below it.

I began to reascend towards Agassiz, taking the easiest and least bushy way up. Eventually I made it right below the summit but I could not bring myself to do the easy fifth class moves up to the summit. Maybe I just was trying to get up from the wrong side but the moves were committing and I was not comfortable doing them alone.

The view from Mt. Price

I dropped off of Agassiz and continued on the ridge line. I climbed through a small notch right below the summit and descended the loose sandy scree towards the ridge. There were quite a lot of brush so I had to duck and dodge in between them but I made it out the other side unscathed.

Back on the ridge

Eventually I had to continue climbing back upwards and I regained the ridge. From here on it was a bit easier for me to continue a little bit off the ridge. This allowed me to enjoy some scrambling while still moving fairly quickly and efficiently.

After some more traversing I reached Little Pyramid Peak, the small summit right before getting to Pyramid Peak (I think). After taking a moment to take in the views I continued along the class two ridge, staying as true to the crest as I could. A little bit of descending resulted in me climbing back upwards on a slowly shrinking ridge line. My options began to disappear and eventually I was on a fairly exposed two or three foot wide section. From there I began the class three down climb on the left side of the ridge to get onto easy ground. If you take your time and look for good holds you will not have any issues.

A view of the class three down climbing portion from Pyramid Peak. Stay on the right side.

After the down climb I began the final leg of the traverse to Pyramid Peak. To my surprise I even ran into someone else doing the ridge from Pyramid to Price. We stopped and chatted for a moment and then we both went on our ways. From there on it was a calf burning trudge to the summit. I was greeted by two other parties who appeared to have approached via Rocky Canyon.

The ridge line from Pyramid Peak

 After a quick breather and some food I began my descent towards the cluster of lake below. I decided to make a beeline for the lakes which proved to be a little tricky. That side of Pyramid Peak was extremely loose and crumbly so I got to scree surf my way down. After emptying my shoes out multiple times and almost going head over heals a few times I made it to solid ground and continued down.

The lakes in the distance

Eventually the descent flattened out for a moment. I picked up the traces of a creek which I followed downward. The dry creek bed eventually began to flow and I was able to refill both my bottles and chow down on another bar.

This is where route finding got tricky. Eventually I was forced to leave the creek as the terrain got too steep. I roughly aimed for the southern end of Ropi Lake but was forced to twist and turn among the boulders and cliffs as most of the ways down are too steep. Be patient and just do not lose sight of Ropi Lake and you will be fine.

When I finally made it to the southern end of Ropi Lake I was able to find an extremely faint trail which continued along the perimeter of the lake. After following it for a bit the trail disappeared and I was forced to bum around in search of the trail to the Lake of the Woods. Eventually I found it on the east side of the lake with help of my GPS watch. The trail was extremely faint and I followed barely existing cairns for first mile after leaving Ropi Lake. A GPS device is highly recommended for this section.

Ropi Lake

From there I continued up the final climb to get me back onto the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail eventually became extremely obvious and I followed it around the east side of Lake of the Woods. From there I took a right turn onto the trail taking me back to the PCT. I climbed for a bit more and was ultimately emptied onto the PCT where I took a right and began the final technical descent back to Echo Lakes Trailhead.

I passed a ton of day hikers, backpackers, and even a group of fifteen or so young Boy Scouts. The trail was busy but the descent was quite fun. After making it back to the trailhead I collapsed in the back of the car and enjoyed a well deserved lunch.

All in all definitely a fun day on some fun terrain. Would highly recommend it to a highly motivated person looking to get some running and a lot of class two terrain done in a day.  Definitely a more committing objective but well worth it.

Happy climbing(and running)!!!
-m