Echo Peak, Zinc Peak

July 29, 2023

Distance: 30 km

Elevation: 1302 m

Echo and Zinc Peaks are obscure mountains northeast of Crown Mountain, deep in the North Shore backcountry. They get a few ascents per year as a result of their inclusion in the Bagger Challenge and the book “The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore”. A few years ago, ascending Echo (at the time called Mt. Perrault; Echo was the original name given by the BC Mountaineering Club in the 1910s) was a difficult affair involving extensive bushwhacking, as my dad found on his first ascent: “Its superlatives abound: highest concentration of devil’s club on a bagging hike; worst underbrush-lacerated legs; loudest scream when entering bathtub; highest concentration of pine needles left in tub.” Things have changed recently, and the peaks now have a faint flagged route to their summits, although it’s still a long, steep slog with routefinding needed, and should not be underestimated. Long pants are highly recommended. 

On a clear day, anyone foolish enough to ascend these peaks will be rewarded with a unique view of the North Shore Mountains. You are less than 20 kilometres from the suburbs of North Vancouver, but it feels like you’re much further from civilization. Old-growth trees are another highlight.

I parked at Lynn Headwaters and jogged north along the Headwaters and Hanes Valley trails. To avoid leading anyone astray, the turnoff to the Echo/Zinc route isn’t marked, and I was thankful to have GPX tracks of the route. Feel free to message me for the track. I left the Hanes Valley trail just after passing one of the many tributaries of Hanes Creek (around 49.41813, -123.05628), and hiked up the ridge to the west of that creek. 

Eventually I saw a pink flag, which led me to the Bagger Challenge route (there are also a few orange flags, indicating a different route). I’m very grateful to everyone who’s maintained the trail in recent years. The pink flags get more consistent about 200m off the Hanes Valley Trail, but there are several sections where it’s easy to lose the route. A few sections are very steep, especially further up, and I was hanging on to blueberry bushes in many spots. Most of the ridge has not been logged, and there are many massive old-growth giants. 

After about 1.5km the route emerges onto Palisade Ridge, although you’re still in dense forest. Along the ridge, there are many abandoned metal barrels, core samples, camping remnants, and a shovel, left over from zinc mining exploration in the 1950s. 

The route traverses the western slopes of Zinc Peak and then emerges just above the col between Echo and Zinc. I went to Echo first, following more flags to the open summit with 360º views. Echo’s location gives it interesting angles of the classic North Shore mountains, such as Crown and Cathedral. I took a long break on the summit, soaking up the scenery. Sadly there was not much of an echo.

Zinc was a quick and straightforward detour on the way back. There are two summits of pretty much the same height. The eastern summit has a ruined helicopter pad that was guarded by a family of grouse.

I wasn’t looking forward to the descent, but at least it went faster than the ascent. I followed the flags until they petered out just before the Hanes Valley Trail, then chose the path of least resistance to the main trail. Because of its remoteness, this is one of the few areas of the North Shore where goats are spotted (very rarely). I didn’t see any live ones, but there were two clouds of goat remains on the descent, alarmingly.

The jog to the car was uneventful. As always, it was a bit shocking to encounter the crowd at Norvan Falls after being alone for hours.