We planned a hike from Lac du Bois to the western cliffs of Opax Mountain overlooking Tranquille Canyon and back, but we opted to doa  treverse of Oapx Mountain from west to east, extending the hike into a long loop route. 

Our hike started by going around the north side of Lac du Bois and then to Hanging Valley.    A hard-to-spot double track bears off into the open forest and then winds up the slopes of Opax Mountain. 

We followed double tracks through the south-facing douglas fir forest.   There are some junctions that make navigation a little more challenging.  

We had lunch on the edge of the bluffs overlooking the canyon.  

We chose to try to follow double tracks across the mountain, and for the most part, we were successful, but one of our tracks ended in a landing so we had to bear north to work our way over to a known track.    A little adventure during a long day of hiking…

Hikers, bikers, hunters and explorers often get lost on the top of Opax Mountain.    The only high points with views on Opax are the line of lava cliffs on the south and west sides.     The rest of the mountain is forest, swamps, windfall and brush, and some logged and replanted areas.    Any traverse requires navigating carefully.    We saw lots of bear scat and spotted a skunk, but the route was mostly just lots of hiking.   A few of these moments are captured in video: