Hopyard Hill
February 14, 2021
240m
Agassiz / Fraser Valley, BC
Hopyard Hill locates immediately to the west of the town of Agassiz in the middle of some farm lands. The hill is criss-crossed with old and overgrown logging roads on the lower flanks but the very top is completely covered in trees. The ascent of Hopyard Hill is the worst dumpster-dive I’ve done in Fraser Valley. This hill is slightly lower than the nearby Cemetery Hill but the ascent was steeper and bushier. Maria and I did it as a second objective on the Valentine’s Day after bagging Cemetery Hill. To bag these summits one doesn’t have to link them up but we opted to do so in order to make a heart-shaped loop track.
The terrain between Cemetery Hill and Hopyard Hill was entirely farm lands with numerous ditches and barbed wire fences to hop across or duck under. The farm lands were also swampy but the recent cold snap had frozen them over. The only reason we could complete this loop was the deep freeze as otherwise we would be dealing with 1km of post-holing in swamp, mud and quick sand. The ditches were not frozen though so we did have to find some creative way to hop across. I made a jump then Maria used my pole as an added grab.
The ascent of Hopyard Hill from the west side looked steep and it sure was. The crux was getting off the farm lands onto the hill as again, we had to deal with a thick band of brambles that was not possible to avoid. Then we had to deal with a mix of scrambling and bushwhacking for 200 vertical meters of elevation gain. The hardest scrambling was a 4th class step aided by vege belay. I’m sure that step could be avoided but we didn’t want to traverse around to find out as that zone was covered in brambles as well. Traversing in brambles was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought the going would get easier once hitting the flatter SW Ridge but the flat ridge was covered in dense and pokey plants. To reach the true summit was still a non-stop bushwhacking on this entire ridge.
After snapping some obligatory shots we resumed the plan to make that heart-shaped loop so the descent would be down the SE flanks. This side of the terrain was surprisingly not as bad as the west side but still involved a lot of bushwhacking. About two thirds of the way down we came across an old logging road and followed it for a while. The road then did some uphill travel. Not knowing where exactly that went we bailed the road and bushwhacked steeply down to the east side farm lands. We joined the driveable road on that side and walked to the very southern end on the edge of Fraser River. The road stopped in a private property with dogs guarding but our only way home was to go through it. We gingerly walked across and thankfully the dogs didn’t bark on us. I was hoping for the road to continue but we were out of luck. The next half an hour was spent frustratingly bushwhacking across the southern tip of Hopyard Hill with a lot of up-and-downs. Traversing on the edge of the river was not an option so we must side-hill in the forest. About half way down this traverse we joined another old road that apparently came from the other side. This road brought us into another private property with gates and “no trespassing” signs but we came literally from behind, so the only way out was to go through it. I hopped over the gate but then Maria found out it’s actually not locked. The owner then came out from behind. We didn’t say anyway, just waved and continued walking back to the truck.
Our round trip time was a little over 4 hours with at least 3 hours of non-stop bushwhacking. These two “peaks” are no doubt for the desperate peak-baggers only and should not be recommended. This trip had all elements of dumpster-diving – bushwhacking, no view, private properties, barbed wire fence, dogs, swamps, farm lands. We were also running a little late than planned. While driving back the weather closed in and it started to snow really hard. Still, I rushed the way home and managed to get back with only 5 minutes of spare before the exhausting afternoon/evening work…