After doing the awesome hike up Mt Rexford on Saturday, I persuaded Paul to make the weekend a double header with another classis ascent, this time the traverse of Markhor and Needle Peaks (located on the Coquihalla Highway in BC, just west of the toll booths). This was my third time on this route and I thought I had the approach through the bush pretty much dialed. After thrashing around in the bush below Markhor’s North Ridge for around an hour, accompanied by a steady stream of cursing from Paul, we finally emerged on a boulder field on the wrong side of the ridge I was heading for. So much for having the route dialed!

Fortunately, the ridge was easily accessed from this side as well and soon we left the bush behind, continuing up Markhor’s north ridge with a few scary, low fifth class sections that we probably could have avoided. After stopping for a short break on Markhor itself, we continued down the south side, resorting to all sorts of ungraceful methods of descending the bushy, dirty slabs. From the base of Markhor to the summit of Needle Peak, the route just got better and better, one of the highlights being the fun, exposed scramble into a steep notch halfway to Needle peak.

The final scramble / hike down the West ridge of Needle peak and out to the road was a great little ramble through beautiful, flowering alpine meadows that just capped a truly brilliant weekend.

(All images labeled PR courtesy of Paul Raymond)