Twin Peaks - snowshoe hike to the Tahoe summit with a famous name

"Twin Peaks" is probably known best as the fictional Washington town from the famous American television serial drama of the same name. A lot of people probably also heard about San Francisco's "Twin Peaks", the two hills near the geographic center of the city. I doubt a whole lot of people know the "Twin Peaks" in the Tahoe area, but that's exactly what I was after on this day. Due to some parking issues at the beginning, I had to somewhat change my original plan for the tour, but the parking problems turned out to be a blessing: due to the unplanned starting point I ran into some unexpected but pleasantly entertaining scrambling and scenic basalt columns on my way to Twin Peaks.

The snow situation hasn't change much since last week and my starting point was even lower than on my tour to Waterhouse and Powderhouse Peak, so it was clear to me at home already to not even take the skis along. My original plan was to start at the bottom of Alpine Meadows Sherwood Chairlift at the end of Ward Creek Canyon. However, the parking lot there is only for homeowners of Ward Canyon. In addition there's no parking on the whole road from 89 to the bottom of the chair lift from November first until May first. I didn't feel like taking the risk of being towed or ticketed, so I decided to use my backup plan and park at the Blackwood Sno-Park off Highway 89. After I stop there, I try to find my season sno-parking pass, but have to realize that I probably left it at home. So I am about to go an purchase such a sno-park day pass in Tahoe City, but on the way there notice a Vista Point along the west shore of Lake Tahoe, which doesn't seem to have any parking restrictions at all and leave my car there instead.

After all the parking trouble I'm eager to get going and quickly check my map for a route to Twin Peaks. It seems most logical to walk west from here to P. 7277 and Stanford Rock and then continue along the connecting ridge to Twin Peaks. But then again, I have made this kind of "mistake" before and know that at this altitude and in this region I might run into very unpleasant and even impassable bushwhack. So I'm kind of torn between the "save" option along the official trail via Blackwood Canyon Road and the adventurous route via P. 7277 and Stanford Rock. I decide to be adventurous. The climb up to P. 7277 actually turns out to be a pleasant surprise with only minimal bush encounters, but interesting rock formations and even a short scramble.

From the Vista Point on 89 I first walk south along the bike path and take a right up the hill on Elisabeth Drive which turns into Leota Way. I hike along the street until it makes a sharp turn. Shortly after the turn I find a path on the left hand side and follow it until I get to an altitude of approximately 6500 ft. There a big field of scree and talus leads up to the very obvious basalt columns. These columns remind me of the Devils Postpile National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain - not quite as impressive but definitely a nice surprise. The very direct way up would probably be a class 4 scramble, but I choose a slightly easier route on the left side of the almost vertical drop. This first view point up there offers a very nice overlook of Lake Tahoe and the ridge which will take me to Stanford Rock and Twin Peaks.

After a first short break I continue along the ridge line. At around 7700 ft there is enough snow on the ground to put on the snow shoes. Even though there's a path here, I don't follow it most of the time but take the more or less direct route to the summit of Standford Rock. It's true summit and best view point is the northern end of the plateau there. I take another short break here before I continue south west and then west along the ridge to Twin Peaks.

The east ridge of the highest point steepens up before the summit and for the last stretch I take my snow shoes off  and climb the rocky and snow free part to the summit by foot. Even though the west peak of the twins is slightly lower than the east peak, I decide to go and visit the minor summit as well, not only to take a peek down the very interesting looking north facing couloir between the two summits, but also because the west summit with an almost vertical drop on top somehow looks more spectacular than the highest point. In order to get there I strictly follow the (entertaining) ridge which involves some easy class 3 scrambling.

After another break I then start my walk back to the car. For my return I decide to more or less follow the path which can be found on the US topo map down to Blackwood Creek. However, due to the snow and thicket I hardly ever see this trail and therefore find my own way through the forest. I can not completely avoid all the bushwhack, but bypass the worst and get to the Blackwood Canyon Road, which takes me to Highway 89 and then to the Vista Point without too much trouble.