A Full Day on Pyramid and Gothics

My friend Mark likes to describe short but demanding hikes in terms of "full" miles. Well on Wednesday, Bryan and I made a full day of a hike over Pyramid and Gothics. Full, in that we took our time chatting to people on the Lake Road, visiting side attractions along the trail, lounging on Pyramid's awesome summit for an hour and setting a slow pace on the trails. All told we took 11 hours and made the most of a beautiful dry and somewhat cool day in what has been a wet summer.

We followed the Lake Road to the dam on Lower Ausable Lake. Along the way we chatted with some retirees who were headed to Indian Head (Lucky that they all live nearby). Bryan found some keys near the mile 2 marker and when we handed them over to the guy driving the bus along the road he suggested we might get a free ride back at the end of the day. Sweet!

From the Lake Road we turned to the Weld trail and started heading up. A half hour detour to Rainbow Falls was well worth the diversion. The Weld trail starts out quite steep but gets better and is quite soft under foot. Regardless it is quite a climb as it rises 2500 feet from the Lake road in 2.5 miles. The stretch of trail after the col between Sawteeth and Pyramid is fun with many steep slabs to scramble up. Fun on a dry day but maybe not so when wet.

The summit ledge of Pyramid offers some close up views of the sheer slides of Gothics as well as spectacular views of the upper Great Range. We stopped for lunch, some needed rest and to take as many photos as possible! For the better part of an hour we had this awesome spot to ourselves which must be rare on such a nice day. Although not a 46er peak, Pyramid is a must visit.

The trip from Pyramid to Gothics is a short one which I guess is the reason why it is not included in the 46. More photos were taken from a few ledges on Gothics as now we could see Pyramid! It is striking how steep the sides of Pyramid are. You don't get that impression when hiking up it. As we reached the summit of Gothics we were treated to several demonstrations of flying. First a pair of ravens were riding the air currents and then an airplane flew past us and down the middle of the John's Brook valley (I would pay to take that ride).

The hike back the Lake Road along the Beaver Meadow Falls trail seemed endless and had me questionning the altitude readout on the gps. Eventually we arrived at the falls and cooled off in the icy cold water. As we walked out on the road the bus driver passed us but the bus was full from a picnic at the Lake house so no ride for us. The Lake road is always a painful slow grind at the end of the day. We arrived back at the car at about 8 and got underway just as the last light faded.

A full day!

Rainbow Falls

At the end of Lake Road on the Ausable Club Property there are trails leading to Indian Head/Fish Hawk cliffs, Colvin, Sawteeth and Pyramid/Gothics. There is also a side trail that brings you to Rainbow Falls and another dimension. You wind your way around a corner and find yourself in a small canyon with a waterfall at the far end. The drop is about 50 feet or so and there is a small brook that runs out of the canyon with the water that has dropped in from the falls. The spray has made everything damp and the rock is covered with algea or things growing. One has to step carefully to get up close and pose for some memorable photos.

It is well worth the effort to visit this spot and it can be combined with a treck up to Indian Head.