Back to Yak
Our plan was to hike up the Yak Peak Trail then to traverse over Zopkios Ridge and then ascend Nak Peak, but too many steep hikes in a week took its toll on our legs, so we opted to climb to the top of Yak Peak only on this July day. We parked at the Zopkios Rest Area and walked back along the highway for almost a kilometer. Some flagging tape on some bushy alders marks a hard-to-see trail that goes through the overgrown single track that goes down to a creek and the trailhead for Yak Peak. The first section is steep, going up through a wet cedar-hemlock forest. The whole trail is steep, rocky, and a bit hazardous so lots of care must be taken to avoid slips and falls.
The trail emerged onto a steep talus slope. From there it was straight up, boulder hopping to the bottom of the Yak face.
As we climbed the views of the Coquihalla Summit area improved. Coquihalla Mountain stands across the river to the south.
Make no mistake – the Yak Trail is a challenging hike. From the boulder slope to the alpine meadow is a series of steep pitches requiring scrambling, route-finding, pull-ups, and patient work. The meadows is the one short and less difficult section of the hike.
At the top of the meadow we ascended a ridge where we could see to the east, the back side of Zopkios Ridge. We had to traverse a steep snowslope over to another ridge in behind the false summit.
The final section was another steep scramble to the summit Yak Peak, a fine spot for lunch, with fine 360 degree views.
Across the Coquihalla Highway are two of the best trail hikes in the Coquihalla Summit area.
To the northwest are three peaks that we have explored, all hard-to-get-to.
To the west is the Anderson Range, all remote peaks, hard to get to, and best suited to climbing.
To the south are peaks across the river valley, best accessed from the Illal Creek Trail.
On Zopkios Ridge, both Nak and Thar require scrambling and route-finding. Zoa Peak is across the Falls Lake Valley ad is a more moderate hike in the area.
We started the slow descent. This route is one of the most difficult trails in the Interior. Many sections require some ingenuity and dexterity to get down small bluffs, steep slabs, drop-offs. and awkward sections. We used our hands to hold on to branches and rocks. We spent a lot of time reaching our feet down forwards or backwards to get past obstacles. The whole area is granite, but the rock is often covered in small hard-to-see pebbles, making a slippery surface that I call the Marble Staircase. It is a good place to have a serious fall, but we have done this hike a few times, so we just went down slowly, avoiding falls. Yak is a wonderful area in terms of views, but a terrible trail to hike. I keep saying that this will be the last time I will do this hike, but I have said this before (more than once).
Along the way, I stopped to take photos of the flora, fauna, and natural features spotted in the hike. These are now featured in a video:
More Information:
- Yakkety Yak
- Yak Peak
- There are articles on many of the trails to the mountains noted in the photos. Use the Search Bar to find more posts.