Pyramid Pass and Lake

On a Saturday August 2 I hiked to Pyramid Pass and Lake with Patti, Joyce and Mary.  It was a very good day for a hike: sunny, not too hot, not too cold.

It was a long drive down to the trailhead as we had to take Hwy 83 almost all the way down to Seeley lake, Montana.

Pyramid Pass Location: Take the Cottonwood Lakes Road #477 (joins Hwy. 83 1/2 mile north of Seeley Lake). Travel east about 2 1/2 miles then turn north on the West Morrell Road #467. Continue on this forest road for another 6 miles, then turn east again on the Pyramid Pass Road (or Upper Trail Creek Road) #4381. Follow this road for 6 miles to the trailhead.

Distance:  The sign at the trailhead says 4 miles to Pyramid Pass. It is almost another half mile to Pyramid Lake.  Trail descriptions in guidebooks to Pyramid Lake vary from 4.5 miles to 6.5 miles one way.  I would trust the guidebook that says it is 5.7 miles as that distance felt about right.

Round-trip to the lake then was: 11.4 miles.

Elevation gain: 1790 feet
Elevation loss: 100 ft
Maximum elevation: 7000 ft

Lots of pack trains access the Bob Marshall Wilderness using this trail.  The parking lot at the trailhead is large and has a public corral for livestock.

It was a little confusing at the start on which trail to use.

Pyramid Lake has a couple different trails to its basin. One has been decommissioned, but tracks show continued stock use on that most-direct route.

As we arrived at the parking lot we saw horses go down one trail to the left.  Both trails looked used.  I thought the trail to the right was the correct trail.  Patti and Mary were not sure so they drove back down the road a short distance to an outfitters camp while Joyce and I waited on the trail.  I was right; we were on the correct trail.

The trail goes to the right of the sign. The horse trail goes to the left.

For about the first mile we were on an old logging road converted to the trail. The rest of the trail was in good shape considering all the horse traffic.  We were fortunate as the only horses we saw left before us or passed by on the trail as we were at the unnamed lake. The trail was mainly dirt with a small amount of rock and roots. Not too much horse manure.  The one negative was that the trail was dusty.  As we walked back to the trailhead we kept our distance from each other on the lower third of the trail as our feet kicked up dust.

We did have one crossing of Trail Creek.  As this was August the crossing wasn't bad and we were able to either balance on a log or hop on a few rocks to avoid the water.

As what seems to be common in the Swan Range the trail wound part way up along the sides of mountains, twisting and turning and keeping us guessing as to our actual final destination.

Lots of huckleberries were along the trail.  On the lower part of the trail the berries were smaller and had an ok taste.  Once we crossed the avalanche area higher up the berries were larger and tastier.

Huckleberries!

Halfway up the trail we came across "Thompson's Plunge".

http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/1513/Warden-Roy-Thompson

In the morning of Wednesday, August 21, 1958, Game Warden Roy W. Thompson, age 31, was pronounced dead on the site of a motorcycle accident at Pyramid Pass, near Seeley Lake, Montana. 

Thompson had been riding the Pyramid Pass trail with Graham Wilson. At a switchback in the trail, Thompson went over the edge, falling eighty feet and sliding forty more. Thompson and Wilson had been photographing and inspecting the area prior to the accident. 

Graham Wilson rode his motorcycle three miles back on the trail to his truck and then drove to the Seeley Lake Ranger Station to get medical assistance. Ranger Robert Rehfeld, Assistant Ranger Charles Kern and six other men rushed to the scene. Along with the rangers and their crew the USFS dispatched an airplane with eight emergency-equipped smoke jumpers. The smoke jumpers parachuted in to the area where Roy Thompson lay injured. 

Thompson was found dead when the crews arrived. They carried him one hundred and fifty yards to a clearing where a helicopter was able to land. Thompson was then flown to the ranger station and then transported back to Missoula.

Here is a 15 second video of falls on Trail Creek.  This is at the switchback below Thompson's Plunge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ibqbR4tqc&feature=youtu.be


The trail is deceiving.  Just as we thought we knew where Pyramid Pass was located the trail would turn.  With our late start on the trail it was around 1 pm when we reached the unnamed lake.  A couple camping and fishing at this lake told us Pyramid Pass was a half mile further up the trail, and Pyramid Lake further beyond the pass.  We decided to eat lunch here as we were all starving.

Another view of the unnamed lake with Pyramid Peak in the background.  Pyramid Lake is below the peak on the other side of this ridge.

At the unnamed lake I saw quite a number of bugs "dancing" up and down just above the water.  I didn't see any fish at this part of the lake but I considered the bugs to be suicidal.

Here is a 20 second video of the 'dancing' bugs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkkWOZAHWXk&feature=youtu.be


It was August so it was not surprising not to see many wildflowers.  However the half mile between the unnamed lake and Pyramid Pass was filled with wildflowers.  Gorgeous!

Pyramid Pass is at 7000 ft. Pyramid Lake is at 6927 feet.  Accessing the 10 acre lake is a downhill walk into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

The spur trail to Pyramid Lake has often lost its sign. While almost everyone passes near the Seeley Lake Ranger Station en route to the trailhead, that’s in the Lolo National Forest. Pyramid Lake resides in the Flathead National Forest, but is so far down its southern extent that maintenance crews from Kalispell don’t get there too often.

 

We had this small rock cairn to mark the spur trail.  The spur trail goes to the left of this cairn.

The spur trail goes past a marshy area.  Patti and Mary doubted this was the trail to the lake.  So we hiked down the main trail until we crossed a small creek. We returned to the spur trail.  I then checked out the spur trail while the others waited at the marshy area.  I found the lake past the marshy area over a small rise.  Several campsites were around the lake.

Pyramid Lake with Pyramid Peak

Patti went for a short dip in the lake while the rest of us soaked our feet in the cool water.  Several small fish could be seen in the lake. This fish swam near my feet in the water.

Next time I want to climb/scramble to the top of Pyramid Peak.


For more photos, follow this link:

https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6051386335224669937?authkey=CInFmZmexpiaIw