On a lovely sunny day, I hiked from the Railroad trail on Lake Crescent to the top of Pyramid Peak, about 7 miles and 2,500 feet elevation gain.
I left home at 7:00 am and arrived at the trailhead in time to start hiking at 9:30. A young woman and an older couple were just ahead of me, and I had a nice chat with them at the top.
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| Going up through the big trees in the morning |
The lower trail is quite nice hiking, with a steady incline and a nice tread. After an hour I reached a big slide that the trail crosses. The trail reports made a big deal about the danger crossing the slide because of the difficulty of finding good footing on the shifting gravel, but I had no trouble.
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| The big slide |
I took a break just after the slide, then continued on the the top and arrived at 12:15. The last half of the trail was considerably steeper with some switchbacks, and I found myself stopping for short rest breaks often.
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| Looking down on Lake Crescent |
At the top I found the old lookout building in good shape. It was built during WWII to spot Japanese ships coming up the Strait of Jan de Fuca, and it's been maintained well. Looking down from the peak, Lake Crescent appears as a deep blue jewel, with tiny colorful dots that are kayaks. You can look right down on top of Crescent Lodge. Lovely view.
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| The old lookout |
I ate my lunch in the shade of the lookout and had a comfortable conversation with Jim Clyburn and his wife. Jim is a retired Forest Service employee and worked on the Tongass National Forest and the Willamette National Forest, same as me, so we had a lot to talk about. Jim and his wife pointed out several plants and gave their names. They're involved in conserving endangered species of wild plants in the Cascades.
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| On the way down |
At 1:00 I started down, taking it slow and easy. Arrived at the car at 2:45 and started home, arriving by 5:15.
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