I keep saying I will never hike Yak Peak again.   It is relentlessly steep and there are a number of awkward spots.   But going up is easier than coming down the “Marble Staircase.”   Almost every footstep coming down is onto smaller marble-shaped rocks.   It is a demanding route with constant risks of falling, a continuous opportunity to tear up knee joints.   But, the views from up high are marvelous and that is why I returned to hike it again (for the 5th time).

We parked at the Zopkios Ridge Rest area and walked back along the highway to the trailhead (more information).

The trail crosses a small stream, then starts to climb steeply through cedar-balsam forest.   This section of trail is okay compared to the areas above.   We emerge onto a boulder slope and we boulder-hop our way to the base of the cliffs.

Next we traverse to the right side of the cliffs and then we follow the edge of the slab up through forest and rock bands.   There is a lot of pulling ourselves up through awkward spots.   It is a grueling climb up and a treacherous route down.

We climb around to the east side of the front peak into a meadows.   The trail through the steep meadows is the one good section of the hike.   We ascend to the top of the meadows onto a rock slope between the lower south summit and the true summit.

The final section is another scramble to the top of Yak.   The summit has a nice flat ridge for lunch and there are fine views in every direction.   The Anderson Peaks lie to the west.

Alpaca, Vicuna, and Guanaco Peaks lie northwest of Yak.

To the southwest, we could spot Mt. Baker above the valley haze from the Lower Mainland.

Directly south is Needle Peak, another good hike in the Coquihalla Summit area.

We love the summit of Yak, but we don’t like most of the trail down.  Some of the more polite words to describe it would include “steep, demanding, treacherous, slippery, badly designed, and unforgiving.”   Yakkety Yak….(I used less polite words during the descent.)