The Opax Traverse Option - Kamloops Trails

The Opax Traverse Option – Kamloops Trails

Doug Smith  May 30, 2022 at 8:48 am

We planned a hike from Lac du Bois to the western cliffs of Opax Mountain overlooking Tranquille Canyon and back, but we opted to doa  treverse of Oapx Mountain from west to east, extending the hike into a long loop route. 

Our hike started by going around the north side of Lac du Bois and then to Hanging Valley.    A hard-to-spot double track bears off into the open forest and then winds up the slopes of Opax Mountain. 

We followed double tracks through the south-facing douglas fir forest.   There are some junctions that make navigation a little more challenging.  

We had lunch on the edge of the bluffs overlooking the canyon.  

We chose to try to follow double tracks across the mountain, and for the most part, we were successful, but one of our tracks ended in a landing so we had to bear north to work our way over to a known track.    A little adventure during a long day of hiking…

Hikers, bikers, hunters and explorers often get lost on the top of Opax Mountain.    The only high points with views on Opax are the line of lava cliffs on the south and west sides.     The rest of the mountain is forest, swamps, windfall and brush, and some logged and replanted areas.    Any traverse requires navigating carefully.    We saw lots of bear scat and spotted a skunk, but the route was mostly just lots of hiking.   A few of these moments are captured in video:

 

 

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Doug Smith

Doug writes for Kamloops Trails, a not-for-profit (and ad free) website, offering information on trails, waterways, routes, featured spots, viewpoints, and explorations in the outdoors in the Kamloops area (and beyond).

Doug started exploring this area in 1976 and continues to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, he chose to share this information.

The Kamloops Trails website has a massive number of interesting posts and would be of interest to anyone in Kamloops who enjoys the outdoors. Visit the Kamloops Trails website at: http://www.kamloopstrails.ca/

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