Angora Peak - Indian Rock - Echo Peak

My announcement to come back to Fallen Leaf Lake and climb Angora Peak and Indian Rock didn't take very long to happen. I hiked up to Angora Peak from the south end of Fallen Leaf Lake, via hiking path and later the not very distinct northeast ridge, followed the connecting ridge to Indian Rock and Echo Peak and dropped down to the Angora Lakes south west of the summit and along the marked path from there back to my starting point. A short and scenic tour which offers some interesting scrambling between Angora Peak and Echo Peak.

I first follow the Fallen Leaf Road to the little chapel. Right after the chapel (but before the Fire Department) the marked trail to the Angora Lakes starts. I follow this trail to the saddle at an altitude of around 7250 ft and from there turn southwest and follow the not very distinct ridge up the hill. The forest is not very dense and the few bushes not too annoying. I reach a false summit at around 8300 ft and from here follow the rocky ridge to the top of the peak. In my opinion, this peak offers one of the nicest views in the Tahoe area, not only because Fallen Leaf - and the Angora Lakes give Lake Tahoe some extra decoration, but also because the position here (straight south of the lake), I can overlook more or less all of Lake Tahoe and its surrounding mountains.

There is some scrambling involved on the way over to Indian Rock, but nothing really serious. The hardest part of the hike is the connecting ridge from Indian Rock to Echo Peak, in particular if you strictly follow the ridge (rather exposed class III, T5/II, for those who are not up for something like this, it looks like there is a relatively easy detour east of the ridge).

In order to get down to the Angora Lakes from Echo Peak, I follow a steep usetrail which leaves the ridge about 1/3 of mile southeast of the summit. The upper Angora Lake is quite busy with lots of people and is popular amongst cliff jumpers, because the south end of the lake has some very nice and almost vertical drops. I observe the busy lake activities for a while before I walk back from there along the marked trail to my starting point.