Pyramid Scheme

The Elk Mountains are noted for their rugged and rotten beauty. Those who ascend the six, fourteen-thousand foot peaks located in this range know all too well the hazards that await them when it comes to the maroon-brown sandstone rock that gives many of the peaks their unique color.

Pyramid Peak is one of those six 14ers, rising to 14,018 ft. Pyramid ranks as the 47th highest of the 14ers, but don’t let that lower ranking fool you. Climbing Pyramid Peak is no easy job, especially navigating all the loose, broken rock that’s found in abundance all along the route, and that’s what causes us to associate a “pyramid scheme” with this mountain.

In a pyramid scheme, the more recent investors form a foundation of financial support that funnels money to the older investors. Usually, a pyramid scheme fails at some point when no more new investors can be found. When the scheme fails, the entire structure collapses with the latest investors losing everything. Pyramid Peak seems similar to us in that this seemingly secure mountain of rock is really just one loose pile of rubble stacked upon another and you’re left wondering when it all may come crashing down some day.

This photo was taken in late June of 2018 on a hike that took us to a couple of high, twelve-thousand foot summits near Buckskin and Willow passes. Taking what we thought would be a short-cut back to Maroon Lake, we encountered this magnificent view of one of Colorado’s most dramatic summits in the later afternoon.