"Heavenly"

There are only a few peaks left around Lake Tahoe which I haven't stood on top yet. Monument - and East Peak are two of them. The main reason why I haven't been there was the fact that they are within a ski resort: Heavenly. Since there are several gondolas which take you almost to the top of these peaks, I wasn't too keen on climbing them so far. The plan so far was to do a ski tour to the top at the beginning or the end of the winter season, before or after the ski lifts run there. However, last week I looked at these two mountains from Freel Peak and thought that they would be worth a visit starting from the northern end of the ski resort, in particular since I knew I would get a relatively late start in the morning and didn't have time for big adventures on this day. Besides some ski slopes and easy paths I didn't expect too much from the actual hike, but was surprised by some interesting scrambling from the base of Monument Peak to it's top along the northwest ridge and of course the "heavenly views" of Tahoe up there.

I start my hike at the Kingsbury South / Stagecoach Trailhead and first walk along the Tahoe Rim Trail for a little more than 1/2 a mile. Then I follow the ski slopes to the top of the gondola near East Peak and from there west to the highpoint with some "antenna decoration". The view of Lake Tahoe from this peak is probably one of the best around the Lake, because it's one of the higher peaks closest to the lake with nothing obstructing the view.

After a short break I walk back down to the building near the top station of the East Peak gondola and via different ski slopes to the base of Monument Peak. The northwest ridge offers some easy and fun scrambling (T4/I) over some rather big boulders.

As one might expect the view from up here is "heavenly" as well and I take another rather long break before walking back down to the starting point via ski slopes to East Peak Lake and from there along a gravel access road and finally the Tahoe Rim Trail again to the trail-head.