We have hiked up to the top of Zoa Peak almost every year for many years.    It is usually a fall hike, but this time it was an end-of-July day for the 8.2 km out-and-back route.     The forecast was for 39ºC in Kamloops, so we got an early start and we were at the trailhead by 9:15 am.    The first two kilometers is a steady uphill up the gasline track then onto a single track which winds through the forest up to a subalpine ridge.

The second half of the hike up to the top has open views, meadows, and forest pockets winding around rocky hills.    To the north July Mountain stands above the other side of the Coldwater River Valley.    We have hiked to the top of that mountain a few times (link).

The trail works its way north.    At one point we can look through a gully to see the north face of Yak Peak and Zopkios Ridge.

The trail ends in an sub-alpine meadow with views to other Coquihalla Summit peaks – Guanaco, Vicuna, and Alpaca.    We have hiked to Guanaco and Vicuna a few times too.

The trail back retraced our steps.    With a trip to Vancouver ahead, I scurried down the trail to the truck before heading west, trying to beat rush hour in the Fraser Valley.

Every year we try to do at least one peak in the Coquihalla Summit.   Last year it was Zupjok and Zoa.    We hope to return to hike Illal Meadows and possibly to hike to Llama Peak next year.

We return to Zoa Peak often because it is the most forgiving of the peaks in the area, a 3.5 hour hike to the top and back.

A Google Photos album of some of the wildflowers spotted on the hike can be see at this link – Zoa Peak