PeakBroski

This was by far the most technical (and also one of the most fun) scrambles I've done to date. I was asking around for more technical scrambles in southern BC on the ClubTread forums and @rhinolady  recommended a traversal of Coquihalla Mountain. I started doing some research on the mountain online, and I found that it involved Class 3-4 scrambling. I had been searching for more Class 4 scrambles because I wanted to be able to improve and complete more technical scrambles. I saw that quite a few people had done Jim Kelly Peak and Coquihalla Mountain in one day, so I figured I might as well try to bag both.

The hike up Mount Outram is decently long, with a nice Class 3 scramble at the end. This trip was a trip of many firsts - first overnight backpacking hike, first alpenglow, first hike in the Hozameen range, first time seeing so many stars in the night sky, and my first time witnessing another broski sprain their ankle on a hike. Let's just get right into it!

Mount Goldie is a non-technical, long slog of a hike. It is a Class 2 hike with one or two places where I might have used my hands - all you really need for this one is some endurance. I chose this hike because I was looking for a non-exposed hike to do with a friend that would take most of the day. The panoramic views are really good, but I have gotten better views from shorter hikes - my knees were feeling a little battered by the end, and I was incredibly happy that I brought trekking poles to save them from further pain. 

I was looking at hikes in Valhalla Provincial Park, and Gimli Peak immediately caught my eye. The fourth highest peak in Valhalla Provincial Park, it is popular with climbers, and there is a Class 3 scramble up the east ridge. Although there is plenty of information about the climbs online, I didn't find much information about the scramble. I am happy to report that it is an incredibly rewarding hike/scramble, and the panoramic views at the top of Gimli Peak are definitely worth the grind. I think Gimli Ridge could be skipped in favour of Gimli Peak - the only thing you get from Gimli Ridge is a slightly different angle of more limited views, whereas Gimli Peak provides a beautiful 360° view. Both are nice though!

Vicuna ended up being a little more challenging than I expected. The trudge up to the saddle was not too bad, but the scramble at the summit ended up being more exposed than I expected. The scramble was mostly Class 3, with one Class 4 section that was definitely on the edge of my comfort zone. My initial plan was to do both Vicuna and Guanaco, but we started rather late (11:30am-ish), and even after deciding to skip Guanaco we only got back to my car around 7pm. I feel like if I had done Guanaco it would have gotten rather late, and I really do despise driving through the mountains that late at night.

My first ever blog post - I am excited! I hope to chronicle my journey as I attempt to conquer new peaks, try out some good hikes, and improve my abilities at more technical bits. I am also going to attempt to be thorough and do a somewhat in depth walk through of the actual hike and any difficult parts. I only meant to do Yak but I ended up doing Nak just because it was so easy to get to (but I don't know how much additional elevation gain and distance it was). Definitely much less challenging than I thought it would be. I wouldn't really call it a hard hike, but you can expect to sweat for sure. I didn't encounter anything new or anything out of my comfort zone. The views at the top were pretty good, and I do like the fact that there weren't any long flat portions - those tend to really bore me when I'm hiking.