Pyramid Peak, Eagle Mountain #2

Dec 1970

By: Fran Smith

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At the scheduled 8 am meeting time thirteen starters were ready to go. After a slight wait for possible stragglers, we drove 11.6 miles from Death Valley Junction to the nearest point on Highway 190 from which a northwesterly ridge up Pyramid could be reached. For two miles of gently sloping desert floor the naturalists of the group (Romeros, Taylors, and Nelsons) enjoyed researching to what extent that spring had sprung in the desert. The climb up the ridge was accomplished at a slow pace with plenty of scrambling. Several areas of rough rock, and one spot of third class added a little spice to the activity. Twelve made the summit and after a rest for lunch and views started downward. On the decent we made use of an easier route to the south of the ridge. There were a number of sections of loose scree to facilitate the down climb. The total time for the roundtrip was over seven hours. This was a big day for Mike Risely as he completed his fifteenth peak thereby qualifying himself for emblem status.

Eight stayed over for the short climb of Eagle the next morning. Parking a short distance off, Highway 127 directly west of the peak, we climbed the northern of two prominent chutes to the north of the high point. Once up this chute a combination of contouring and climbing southward about 300 yards brought us to a point west of and almost directly below the summit. About ten more minutes of careful class 2 climbing up and across a ridge brought us to the register. All eight signed in and due to high winds, little time was spent on top. We returned the same way and soon joined the Vegas traffic line.


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