In any case, Zosia and I made it down in one piece and proceeded to climb up the access gully which was still mostly choked with snow.  Although the snow was ideal for kicking steps, the gully is steep enough to make ascending with crampons a must.  Even then, it felt a bit awkward and wearying front-pointing straight uphill, and we zigzagged much of the way up the gully.  More unnerving was the fact that we were vulnerable to rockfall while in the gully, and we had a near miss when several rocks about the size of dinner plates came crashing out of a side chute just above us.  Fortunately, we were able to dodge the shower of rocks, but we then climbed the final few meters of the gully with a bit more urgency in an effort to get to safer ground more quickly.

Once we cleared the gully, Zosia and I ditched our crampons and proceeded up a long scree slope which bends left around a tapering cliff band.  After the nerve-racking ascent of the snowy gully, it felt strangely relaxing to slog up some good old treadmill scree.  Higher up, we veered a little further to climber's left to find more stable terrain, and we made good progress up the north ridge to the base of the summit block.  Just as Dewit lamented, the remaining scramble up the summit block is far less trivial than Kane suggests.  Some route-finding is necessary to figure out the easiest way up, and the crumbly rocks here are touchy to say the least.  With some careful persistence, we muddled our way up to the summit cairn without any mishaps.  It had taken us a whopping 10.5 hours to ascend The Monarch.

Well aware of the lateness of the day, Zosia and I stopped on the summit for only 20 minutes before commencing our descent.  We slowly down-climbed the tricky summit block, but once we cleared the most difficult sections, we took advantage of the abundant loose scree on this mountain to expedite our descent.  Ironically, the wildfire smoke which robbed us of what should have been splendid summit views also protected us immensely from getting baked by the sun.  As such, the long stumble back to our crampons did not feel so unbearable.  Donning our crampons again, we re-entered the gully and descended as quickly as we could to avoid more rockfall.  Due to the steepness of the snow in the gully, we never felt comfortable enough to attempt glissading, and instead, we simply walked back down the way we came up.  At one point, I tripped over my own crampons and went for a brief tumble, but luckily, I was able to stop myself from an uncontrollable slide.  We had no other accidents in the gully, and at the base, we removed our crampons for good.

From the base of the gully, Zosia and I dropped further down before crossing more rubble to reach the aforementioned fire-ravaged forest.  We then began a long climb back up to the north ridge of The Monarch via the forest's edge.  With very little bushwhacking or ankle-breaking rubble present, this is indeed a far superior route than the descending traverse we took earlier in the day.  Nevertheless, the 200-metre re-ascent of the north ridge still felt a bit dispiriting to me especially at this late stage of the trip.  After cresting the ridge, we descended partway back toward Eohippus Lake before taking a short cut down to a hidden meadow.  We subsequently headed northeast and circled around the shore of some unnamed tarn before regaining the Eohippus Lake trail in waning daylight.  The ensuing hike out in the dark took us another three hours but was otherwise uneventful.

	The sun is up already as Zosia starts the trip by hiking across Sunshine Village Ski Resort's parking lot which is under construction.
	The creek bed under this foot bridge near the Simpson Pass turnoff is dry on this day.
	Zosia arrives at Simpson Pass.  The trail to Eohippus Lake (and Healy Pass) enters the forest beside a provincial boundary marker at right.

Here is one of the first clear views of The Monarch from an unnamed lake in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park.

 

	Monarch Ramparts stretch away to the north across the same unnamed lake.
	Zosia makes her way around the north shore of Eohippus Lake below the impressive east face of The Monarch.
	This is looking back down on Eohippus Lake from gentle slopes leading to Monarch Ramparts.
	The ridge ahead is the low point between The Monarch and Monarch Ramparts.
	Zosia begins dropping down past the north ridge of The Monarch.
	Sonny finds the uneven rocks here tedious to walk on. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The looseness of the rocks below The Monarch's north ridge make the descending traverse less than trivial.
	This is not the correct gully to go up.
	Zosia approaches the correct access gully.
	Zosia enters the access gully.
	After donning crampons and taking out her ice axe, Zosia begins trudging up the steep snow in the gully.
	Climbing up the gully requires some vigilance as it is prone to dangerous rockfall. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	After clearing the gully and removing her crampons, Zosia proceeds up a scree slope and will eventually angle up to the left.
	The treadmill rubble here can be exasperating to ascend.  More solid scrambling can be found by going further left.
	Zosia approaches the summit block of The Monarch.
	Zosia scrambles up loose and exposed terrain on the summit block.
	Zosia and Sonny take a breather on the summit of The Monarch (2892 metres).
	Here is the view of Eohippus Lake from the summit.  Sunshine Meadows can be seen further in the distance through the smoky haze.
	Monarch Ramparts and several unnamed lakes are visible to the north.
	Sonny takes advantage of the terrain's looseness to descend from the summit. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	A helicopter lands briefly on an outlier of The Monarch.  Note the figure wandering at the bottom of the photo. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia makes her way back to the top of the access gully.
	Sonny carefully descends the access gully. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	After exiting the gully, Zosia aims to climb up the right edge of the fire-ravaged forest ahead.
	The climb back up along the edge of the forest is straightforward.
	Sonny takes a short cut back to the access trail for Eohippus Lake (right). Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance:  ~35 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  18 hours 5 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  1842+ metres GPX Data