Lightning Pyramid

Lightning: N Ridge - Class 3 13631: N Ridge - Class 3

On a blue bird Saturday in mid August we decided to chip away at the Bi-Centennials by tackling Lightning Pyramid (Pt 13,722) and Len Shoemaker Peak (PT 13, 631).

We left the overflow lot around 6:00am and hiked the standard trail for close to 4 miles before breaking off and heading east toward Len Shoemaker Basin.

From the basin we located a gully that lead to the Thunder - Lightning saddle. The gully is located across a scree field just to the left of some white/yellowish rocks.

Climbing the gully was extremely loose and felt a bit dangerous. It was difficult not to knock rocks down. I would not want to ascend/descend this gully with more than two people. It could be disaterous if there was another group (or careless goats) above you in this gully. It is narrow enough that there aren't many places to go if rock were to come tumbling down.

While the gully was an amazing place to be... I can't say the climbing was enjoyable. It was more of a loose choss fest.

Once on the ridge the hike to Lighting's saddle was enjoyable. We spent about 25 minutes on the summit taking in the views and discussing our descent options. We came very close to traversing to Thunder instead of descending the loose gully.

We descended the gully just as we climbed it... one by one in pitches protecting each other from tumbling rock.

Once at the basin, Kristi opted to rest and read while I climbed Len Shoemaker Peak.

From the basin I hiked to the obviouse saddle on the north side of the peak. The hike to the saddle was a bit tedious but once on the saddle there was quality class 3 scrambling to the summit.

Round trip on Len Shoemaker took roughly 2 hours plus 20 minutes of summit time.

After meeting back up with Kristi some locals escorted us out of the basin and the we made our way back to the TH. Our round trip was 14.7 miles and 7750 vertical. It took just short of 13 hours with 40 minutes of summit time.

GPX

Lightning Pyramid 14ers.com Page
Len Shoemaker 14ers.com Page

PT 13140 to Len ShoemakerMaroon Bells Traverse