Pyramid Peak Martin Point Mon, Mar 15, 2004		Etymology Pyramid Peak	Story	Photos / Slideshow	Maps: 1 2	Profiles: 1 2
		Pyramid Peak previously climbed Sun, Aug 28, 1994 later climbed Wed, Apr 29, 2009 Martin Point later climbed Sun, Apr 4, 2004

Pyramid Peak lies about four or five miles north of this point. No one was inclined to accompany me on the climb, all dreading the labor. So the next morning, August 20 [1863], I started for the ascent alone. It was very early and cool, frost lying on the grass by the river, but not on the hillside. I climbed a steep hill; in fact, it was all climb, but not so hard as I had expected, for in four hours I was on the summit with barometer, bag with thermometer, hammer, lunch, and botanical box. The day was fine, not a cloud in sight, the air very clear, though of course hazy in the distance. I remained on the top over three hours.

The view is the grandest in this part of the Sierra. On the east, four thousand feet beneath, lies Lake Tahoe, intensely blue; nearer are about a dozen alpine lakes, of very blue, clear, snow water. Far in the east are the desolate mountains of Nevada Territory, fading into indistinctness in the blue distance. South are the rugged mountains along the crest of the Sierra, far south of Sonora Pass -- a hundred peaks spotted with snow. All along the west is the western slope of the Sierra, bathed in blue haze and smoke; and beyond lies the great plain, which for 200 miles of its extent looks like an ill-defined sea of smoke, above which rise the dim outlines of the coast ranges for 150 miles along the horizon, some of them over 150 miles distant. It is one of those views to make a vivid and lasting impression on the mind.

I was back at the house by sunset. All were surprised to find me no more tired, but the fact is, I have never felt in more vigorous health and my weight is reduced to good walking condition. I am now less than 140 pounds."
- William Brewer, Up and Down California

"'We continued along the Carson Road, which here bends off considerably to the south-east and descends some 200 feet in the next two miles. This is the low depression in the ridge which is seen at the head of Weber Creek, from Placerville Hill, and over which Pyramid Peak and its group are seen in the distance. Here the Diamond Springs Road branches off on a divide to the south. ...

'Immediately on starting, our road re-ascended the ridge, at which point we took bearings on Pyramid Peak and several other points. ...

'The views obtained to the north are very grand; all the creeks falling to the American have broken up the country in the roughest possible manner, while beyond Pyramid Peak towers aloft, forming a magnificent background to one of the most striking scenes on the road.' (Goddard, Report, 98-100.) 'Pyramid Peak appeared on a Goddard map. (Goddard, South)

'Climbed Pyramid Peak ... up steep slope to summit. ... Several pretty little lakes near. ... The ridges near Lake Tahoe apparently all volcanic.' (Brewer, Observations, August 20, 1863.)

Alfred R. Conkling wrote: ' I have condensed the following extract from Professor Joseph LeConte's paper on "Ancient Glaciers of the Sierra," as he has studied the glacial phenomena thoroughly: "Between the Eastern and Western Summits lies a trough fifty miles long, twenty miles wide, and 3,000 to 3,500 feet deep. This trough is Lake Valley. It was formerly occupied by a great glacier rising near Pyramid Peak, filling Lake Tahoe, and escaping northeast towards the plains."

'The predominatiing rock in the western summit is granite. But igneous rocks such as basalt, diorite, and phnolite have broken through the granite in several places. This range may be fitly divided into the Pyramid Peak ridge, the Tallac Peak ridge, the Twin Peakridge, and the ridge north of Truckee Canyon.

' Beginning on the south, the Pyramid Peak ridge consists chiefly of granite. This is the westernmost ridge of the western summit, and its southern boundary is the American Fork Canyon, a narrow, windy valley with precipitous sides composed of gray granite. The peak itself is a mass of coarse-grained, yellowish granite in the form of a pyramid, rising about 300 feet above the ridge-line. The altitude of Pyramid is 10,003 feet. The north side of this peak is much steeper than the other sides. Angular fragments of granite cover the slope of Pyramid Peak for a distance of a quarter to a half a mile from the top. There is a small grass patch on the northeast side of the mountain. The eastern declivity of Pyramid Peak passes gradually into the "Devil's basin" [Desolation Wilderness], a vast amphitheater of granite, probably formed by glacial agency, and containing a series of lakelets. A serrated ridge forms the eastern boundary of this basin. The rock is grayish granite, with large, dark specks of the same rock disseminated through it at the point where the Placerville road crosses the western summit {Echo Summit]. At first sight these spots presented the appearance of hornblende, but on close examination it was found that they were only a darker variety of the granite, although the forms were six-sided.' (Wheeler, Report, 1291-93.)"
- Barbara Lekisch, Tahoe Place Names

"Some twenty-five features in California - mostly Peaks, Rocks, and Hills - are called Pyramid because of their shape. Among these are two high peaks in Sequoia National Park and in Inyo Co., and Pyramid Head on San Clemente Island."

- Erwin G. Gudde, California Place Names