Angora Peak

DATE: Tuesday, September 29, 2020
DISTANCE: 6km / 3.76 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 514m / 1687’
TIME TAKEN: 2:55
SUMMIT: Angora Peak: 2617m / 8586’
ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST
ELDORADO COUNTY, CA
STOLEN WASHOE LAND
SOUNDTRACK: Smoke Mountain


PHOTO ALBUM
MAP

...CONTINUED: Yesterday's Hike: D.L. Bliss State Park

I was awake in the Angora Lakes parking lot at 7:30AM, shortly after sunrise, Amber still asleep in the van. In order to satisfy my lust for elevation gain, I set out solo to ascend Angora Peak. I quickly saw, to my dismay, that the wildfire smoke had returned to the Tahoe Basin during the night. I walked part of the way up the dirt road towards Angora Lake, then turned due north, following what looked like a use trail going up to the peak. The trail came and went, and ultimately trying to follow it didn’t really matter. I tried to follow the shoulder of the ridge, it was steep, more rocky than brushy. As I gained elevation I could see how much smoke had poured in, obscuring the views. I burned my knees on the steep scree, and was happy to get to the giant granite boulders close to the summit. I had a look down at Angora Lakes, which appeared equal in size, like two eyes in the trees.

After that, pushed up the boulders to reach a false summit, but I could see the real one now, a few hundred feet away. More scrambling. I tried to focus on the joy of the granite instead of the disappointment of the hazy air. The top of Angora Peak was pretty much a big pile of rocks, and hidden amongst them was an ammo box summit register / geo cache. The smoke seemed to be getting worse as I surveyed the area from the top. I originally had planned to do a loop including Indian Rock and Echo Peak, but the smoke was a buzzkill, and I decided to return to the parking lot. I took a slightly different route on the descent, just to the north, not quite as steep, again finding patches of a use trail that came and went. I was back at the van by 9:30AM, and Amber was just waking up. We went on to spend the rest of the day lounging by Upper Angora Lake, enjoying our holiday. Later on, we observed some extreme cliff jumping occurring across the water!

FURTHER READING
• Lake Tahoe Getaways: Angora Lakes
• Angora Peak on PEAKBAGGER