Guanaco Peak is one of the Coquihalla Summit Peaks, located at the headwaters rim of the Coldwater River. It is easily spotted from the top of Zupjok, Yak, Zoa, and other peaks in the area, but it is hard to get to. Access is by the Upper Coldwater River FSR which goes west from the Coquihalla Highway near the Coquihalla Lakes. The road up the valley is in good condition for 7.5 km. There is a small campground there (Zum Peak Campground) and from there a 1.4 km trail goes in to Little Douglas Lake where there is a backcountry campsite. The rest of the Upper Coldwater Road is 7 km long and it is grown over. We tried to drive it, but couldn’t, so we parked and walked the road (both ways). On our next outing we parked at Zum Creek, then mountain biked to the trailhead, secured our bikes, then hiked up to the top of Guanaco. The trail to the summit is a round trip of about 5.2 km.
The trail winds up through a cutblock to a trail through subalpine forest, then under the cliffs of Vicuna Peak. The best part of the trail is the traverse to the ridge connecting the two peaks. The route to the summit of Guanaco goes a little bit farther west to work its way up a rocky ridge to the top.
From the top of Guanco are impressive views of Guanaco Peak and Alpaca. To the south are views of Llama, Zupjok, the Zopkios Ridge and Yak Peak. To the west are the sharp peaks of the Anderson Range, a climbing destination at the end of a long forest service road from the Fraser River. In the distance the snow-covered Coast Ranges can be seen. To the southeast are Zum and Zoa Peaks, with Mt. Thynne in the distance to the east. This is a remote spot with an interesting trails and grand views. We returned the way we came, a long day because of walking or biking an extra 14 km on the old road.
On this hike, a friend climbed Vicuna Peak. He said there was a fixed chain to assist climbers. I was happy to watch and enjoy the views on the open ridge.
We have hiked a number of other peaks in the Coquihalla Summit area – Zupjok, Llama, Needle, Iago, Yak, Zoa, Zum (not recommended), Flatiron, July, and Illal. More posts are planned for this website on those hikes in the months ahead.
Some photos from the hike are shared here in a Google Photos slideshow (or click the link to go to the album where captions are provided):
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