Date: December 1, 2024 • Elevation: 6,005 feet • Prominence: 1,488 feet • Distance: 5.4 miles • Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes • Gain: 1,620 feet (gross) • Conditions: Cool, sunny and cloudless

New Mexico • Main • PB • LoJ • USGS BM Datasheet

Pyramid Peak rises about eight miles south of Lordsburg in southwest New Mexico. It is the obvious biggest peak one sees looking that way, aptly named for its shape. It is the highest peak of the Pyramid Mountains, which run about twenty miles between Interstate-10 to the north and New Mexico Route 9 to the south. Most of the range lies on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

I was in Silver City for the Thanksgiving holiday and heading back to Bisbee today. I left Silver City about 8 a.m., temperature there about 35°. Less than an hour later, I had descended into Lordsburg, where things had warmed into the low 50s. The day was sunny and clear.

In Lordsburg, I got onto Animas Street. This road is the main road east of Main Street (Exit 22 off the interstate). I followed Animas Street south past some homes. Pavement ends at the city limits. From here, it is a wide gravel road, regularly graded and suitable for all vehicles. The maps show this road as County Road A-009. This road eventually meets NM-9 near the hamlet of Animas, but I would not be going that far.

I went about five or six miles, passing a small ranch outfit at about the fifth mile. Past the second cattle grate exiting this ranch property, the road makes a bend to the southwest. It is here that the Contintental Divide Trail (CDT) passes through. There is a simple pullout and a plastic trail marker stick, and it would be easy to drive right past it. I parked in the pullout. Not surprisingly, it was just me.

I spent a few minutes getting prepared. Once I was dressed for the dance, I locked up the car and started walking on a southeast bearing, orthogonal to the road. The peak rose about three miles in the distance. It was about 9:05 a.m. when I started the walk.

The first mile and a half is just a trek across the desert plain toward the base of the mountain. I got onto the CDT and passed through a gate, then another gate about a hundred yards later. The CDT then bends south, so I left it and took a direct line toward the peak.

This trek went well and was easy. The brush is mainly creosote and smaller brush, but almost no grass, the ground being gravelly soils cut by numerous narrow arroyos. The brush was spaced out so that I had lanes in every direction. In about 45 minutes, I had covered this segment, now at the mouth of a small canyon.

There are a few hills down low, and getting around them would likely be the trickiest part of the hike. I entered into this canyon, and studied the slopes. I crossed one drainage to place myself on a good-looking slope. One hill in particular, with a 5,420-foot contour at its top, was the main barrier along the ridge.

The hiking was easy because there was almost no brush, the slopes were generally friendly, the rocks stayed in place, and cattle had knocked in paths that I could follow. I situated myself on the main ridge now, just below Hill 5420. Going up, I found a path that angled wide of this hill's summit, allowing me to do an end-run around the hill to its east.

Here, I had an unobstructed view of the peak's main mass, no longer blocked by foreground hills. It looked steep, but had no obvious barriers like cliffs or scree slopes. I descended to the saddle below the peak, elevation 5,250 feet. I crossed a barbed-wire fence line here by stepping over it.

The summit was less than a half mile away, but 750 feet higher. I got busy walking up the slope. It laid back well and was never difficult. Almost all the rocks stayed put, and the brush and grass was light. Other than being steep, this was a very easy climb.

This 750-foot gain is just a long ramp to the top. It moderates in a couple spots, bypassing some rock outcrops. I even found paths, definitely people paths. The fence below blocks any cows looking to summit the peak. These paths weren't critical but they were nice to follow.

I arrived on top of the peak at 10:47 a.m., a 1-hour and 45-minute hike, give or take a couple minutes. The top is a bare hump of low grass and rocks, but nothing sticking up higher than a foot. The very summit is marked by a pole. I found a register within its cairn and signed in, the first for 2024 and the first since 2022. There were more names than I would have expected. It appears people hiking the CDT sometimes make detours to bag this peak.

It was cool with a steady slight breeze, but clear in all directions. I snapped a few images. I could generally pick out features to the north and west, but to the south and east, I have very little knowledge of the peaks that lie that way. Some big silhouettes rose way to the south, likely within Mexico. I spent fifteen minutes up top, having a drink and eating some left-over pizza slices from last night.

The benchmark is embedded in a rock flush to the ground. The online datasets call it "North Pyramid", but the disk itself is not stamped by that name. It gives a summit elevation of 6,001 feet, whereas the maps says 6,005 feet. There is a South Pyramid Peak about ten miles to the south. Maybe I'll visit it someday.

Going down, I retraced my route "exactly", no compulsion to try a different ridge down. The downhill hike off the peak went well, just me taking each step slowly on the steepest slopes. With the sun higher, I stopped for photos. Most of what you see here were taken on the descent.

Once back onto the flats, I aimed for the ranch buildings in the distance. I was parked a little to the south, and once I could actually see my car, altered course for a more direct line to it. The actual route was a bunch of little wiggles and zigs and zags as I avoided the brush and arroyos, or sometimes, followed them if they went where I wanted them to go. I was back to my car at 12:15 p.m., a 75-minute outbound hike.

I was quite happy with how things went on this peak. I had no expectations going in to the hike. The trip reports online didn't mention anything of concern so I wasn't expecting troublesome terrain. But it was better than I expected in that the ground itself was mostly open, with scattered brush, almost no grass, and stable rocks. This allowed me to keep a faster pace than normal. I was surprised I was gone for just over three hours. I had figured four or maybe five hours. For an old man, I move pretty well, I guess.

This was the only peak I had planned. I headed back north to Lordsburg, then got onto the interstate to follow my usual route, NM/AZ-80 into Douglas and Bisbee. Along the way I inspected some gates and access points for peaks of interest, coming away with some promising leads for future visits. I had no plans for any more hikes. I was back in Bisbee by 3 p.m..

I was pleased to be able to claim this peak for my records, but also how the weekend went overall. This was the first time in years I had actually celebrated Thanksgiving. This put me in high spirits.