Located in the BC Cascades immediately SSW of Hope, BC, stands Isolillock Peak. Along with nearby Hope Mountain and Wells Peak, it is a prominent summit that towers above the confluence of Silverhope Creek and the Fraser River. For those that have motored southbound on Highway 1 in the vicinity of Yale, BC, Isolillock and its lesser twin Silver Peak dominate the view ahead, just to the right of Hope Mountain visible at center. Until recently, access to the peak was from Sowerby Creek to the south, via a steep, bushy and reportedly unpleasant grunt to the Silver-Isolillock Col. Today, thanks to the restored Eureka Mine Road that ascends the north side of the peak, one can "drive" a rugged 4x4 to within a mere ~1500 ft of the summit! Okay, okay, not so fast...that was true as of a couple years ago, but unfortunately recent washouts have now rendered the FSR partially impassable after just ~2 kilometers from where one leaves the road to Silver Lake Campground. This leaves over 7 kilometers and ~3500 feet just to reach the road's end, ugh! Doable yes and still better than the southern alternative, but Andrew and I had a plan to make it even better!

By "partially" impassible, a longer wheelbase vehicle such as my 4x4 wouldn't be able to make it, but a compact Jeep, ATV or motorcycle on the other hand would be no problem! Neither of us own a Jeep or ATV, so we hatched a plan whereby Andrew would give me a tow on my mountain bike with his dirt bike. There are videos of people doing this on YouTube, albeit on mostly flat ground, so what could possibly go wrong?! Suffice it to say, on a steep and loose FSR such as this, it's a LOT harder than it would seem, both for moto and mtb alike! As Andrew had to maintain some speed to keep from spinning out, I had myself a white-knuckle ride, struggling to hang on and sucking on fumes and dirt being kicked up in my face. Navigating the switchbacks was particularly difficult, being flung wide and in so doing pulling back on Andrew who then had to gas it while fishtailing for traction. Any slack meant that a violent lurch forward was imminent, with the rope repeatedly getting tangled up in the moto drivetrain. Another washout at about 2.5 kilometers gave us a short reprieve from the ongoing struggle as we pushed our bikes through before steadfastly resuming our comedy of errors.

Finally, somewhere around the 5-kilometer mark, after repeated stops and starts the road got bad enough such that we both had to proceed on our own. I walked my bike though this stretch, while Andrew after making a valiant effort of it, ditched his moto and joined me now on foot for the remaining hike to road's end. We passed a mine shaft where the road makes a couple tight switchbacks, before rounding a shoulder and proceeding into a small valley below Isolillock's North Face. The road ends near another mineshaft, beyond which a short bit of side hilling leads to the Silver-Isolillock Col. We donned our helmets here and scrambled up steep heather interspersed with some talus, slabs and the odd "veggie-belay" to reach a broad talus slope shortly below the summit. Didn't find anything particularly difficult here, but I'm not sure I'd want to climb this when wet! Found ourselves on the summit before long admiring the outstanding 360-degree views! Looking north, where the Fraser winds its way past Hope makes for a particularly memorable sight, as does the view looking towards the Cheam Range and south up the Silverhope Creek Valley. And then of course there's the rugged North Cascades on full display farther south near the USA - Canada border. There's just something about the October lighting that makes for stunning mountain views!

Andrew had places to be later than evening, so we cut our summit stay short. Made our way back to the road end, checking out the mine shaft for a bit before continuing back to our stashed 'cycles. With good ol' gravity providing the "tow" this time, the ride down was a blast, and we made back to our parked vehicles a mere 2 hours after having left the summit! Only 6 hours round-trip, so despite the struggle, clearly the moto-assist was a big help! That said, unless you enjoy soiling yourself being towed up a mountain road like this, I might suggest exploring other options!

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Late September now and Summer took a brief hiatus to allow for cooler temperatures and a healthy dusting of snow on the higher peaks. Mindful of the conditions, I decided no better time than the present to go for a nice "walk" in Manning Park. On the program were a couple ~6500-foot pup-friendly peaks, both of which are served by a well-maintained trail: Lone Goat and Snow Camp Mountain. Situated just north of the border at the western end of what one might consider the "Canadian Pasayten Wilderness", these two peaks form the culmination of the east-west trending ridge separating the Nepopekum Creek Valley to the north and the Lightning Creek Valley to the south.

Starting from Gibson Pass, shortly before the Manning Park Ski Area, I followed a good trail some 6 kilometers up to the Skyline I Trail intersection on the ridge crest. Following this trail now, heading west, I descended a bit towards Despair Pass, making my way past Snow Camp Mountain intending on tagging Lone Goat first and then Snow Camp on my return. The main trail undulates along the crest and traverses below both peaks on their south sides before descending in earnest into Mowich Creek Valley. Leaving the trail just prior to this decent, I followed a spur at right leading up Lone Goat's SW shoulder to its open summit area (2.5 hours to here). Nice views, albeit with significant cloud cover looking south toward the Hozomeen Group, SW towards the Picket Range and Redoubt-Spickard Group, and east towards Frosty and company.

Lingered up top long enough to get cold, and so headed back down to Skyline I Trail and followed it back towards Despair Pass. Quick detour to tag Snow Camp before continuing back to where I was parked. Checked out the tiny ski area there at the end of the road before calling it a day and heading home. This is a scenic area and a great option for some "mountain time" without much of an agenda or effort for that matter.

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