Yak Peak - Yak Peak Trail, October 2017
Yak Peak is the prominent granite dome just on the north side of the highway as one drives over Coquihalla Pass. It is especially noticeable when driving eastbound on the long gradual climb up from Hope. We've admired it's polished slabs en route to points east so many times that we've given it a name of our own - Mount Aga - as in, Agata, my wife who has always been particularly intrigued by the large exfoliated layers of rock so plainly visible to passing motorists.
As one might expect, the peak is also famous for its climbing routes, and which is what first piqued my curiosity. For years I had my eyes on climbing Yak Crack - a 14 pitch 5.9 route that also happens to be the first route put up on the main face and remains a classic climb to this day. But then, that was back when I was sport climbing all the time and had a zeal for such things. Fast forward to 2017, where technical rock isn't so much my jam anymore and has been replaced with a passion for scrambles and peakbagging unlike ever before. And so, blessed with a nice October day I made my way over to the "Coq" and set out on the Yak Peak Trail, climbing up the enigmatic peak via its "descent" route. (more...)
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