Hiking Wonk Peak near Pemberton
Contents
Wonk Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 10.50Km
Elevation Gain: 1,000m
Highest Elevation: 2,279m
Average Gradient: 19.05%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 6 – 7 Hours
– Moderate: 5 – 6 Hours
– Fast: 4 – 5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: ~December – April
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Wonk Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°23’14.7″N 122°27’43.7″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Wonk Peak Overview
Wonk Peak (also known as Rohr W2) is a summit located approximately 2km west of Mount Rohr that typically doesn’t see a lot of ascents as there is no trail to the top and it’s largely overshadowed by Rohr itself. That being said, during the winter when a healthy snowpack blankets the area, Wonk Peak offers outstanding views from the top of the nearby giants along Duffey Lake Road, all for relatively modest effort. Even better, this is a fairly popular area with ski tourers, so there is a solid chance you will benefit from skin tracks leading all the way up to the ridge. Even without tracks, these stats are manageable enough.
There are a couple of standard routes up Wonk Peak, with one route ascending via the Mount Rohr trail (6km longer round trip) and this route taking a much more direct approach straight up to the western ridge from the highway. If you want a quick, uncomplicated ascent, this is by far the preferred route. The Mount Rohr route involves ascending to Rohr Lake, before a steep climb up to a col between Mount Rohr and Wonk Peak, culminating with some tricky, steep climbing to reach the summit. This direct route avoids all of that, merely requiring a forest grind before a scenic, straightforward ridge walk to the top.
Due to the lack of trail, winter is easily the preferred option for Wonk Peak, especially via this route which would be a guaranteed bushwhack in the summer. If you want to go in the summer, you should opt to go via Rohr Lake. With that said, the best time to tackle this peak is January to April when the snowpack will cover the forest brush. A month either side might work fine as well, depending on the year.
Parking for Wonk Peak (in the winter) will be from the pullouts near the Wendy Thompson Hut Sand Shed. There is usually a good amount of parking here, just make sure not to park in front of the shed itself. In the summer you’d park down Cayoosh Creek FSR. This is all 2WD accessible, but in the winter you’ll want to make sure you have the appropriate tires.
Dogs are welcome in this area.
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Is Wonk Peak worthwhile?
Wonk Peak offers absolutely breathtaking views for a relatively short and simple hike. There aren’t too many simple snowshoeing options like this in the region, so Wonk Peak could become quite popular as people realize just how scenic this is.
How difficult is the hike to Wonk Peak?
Difficulty for snowshoeing trips largely depends on the conditions when you go. If you go in favorable conditions and you benefit from tracks to follow, this will be a largely straightforward climb to the top without much complication (1,000m gain still isn’t “easy” on snowshoes, but you get the jist). On the other hand, if you go after a recent dumping of snow without tracks to follow, this could be very challenging. Ultimately, try and time it after a period without too much snow, and you’ll likely find it okay.
Technically speaking it’s largely straightforward. The forest grind is simple, albeit steep, then following the ridge along to the summit is mostly a wide open, moderate gradient route. There is one short, steep slope to ascend that might give you pause in unfavorable avalanche conditions, otherwise most of the route is quite simple terrain.
Wonk Peak Route Information
The trailhead for Wonk Peak (in the winter) is from the Wendy Thompson Hut Sand Shed (see coordinates). There should be side of the road parking available for around 20-30 vehicles. Make sure not to block the sand shed as access here is required for snow plows. If you are going in the summer, you will want to park down Cayoosh Creek FSR, at the same parking area as Mount Rohr.
From the parking area you’ll want to head to the north side of the road and follow the tracks towards the Cayoosh Creek FSR. You’ll immediately reach a 4-way junction where you’ll want to make sure not to follow the main FSR, and instead take the trail to your right, leading towards an overgrown spur.
Thankfully you won’t have to go down this spur road for long, as the route soon enters the forest and begins to climb. This is where you’ll (hopefully) have skin tracks to follow as you make your ascent. These tracks may not follow the GPX linked here exactly, and in fact there could be a number of different routes up to the ridge. We ultimately trusted the tracks that we found, and that led us all the way to the ridge without issue. Realistically there isn’t really anywhere else tracks would be going here (famous last words), so if you find tracks, following them is likely going to lead to the ridge. Decide for yourself though! Just note, they likely will not follow the route linked here exactly.
There isn’t too much to say about the forest grind, it’s around 700m of elevation gain over 3km, so an average gradient of 23.3%. Steep, but not unmanageable, and with tracks that switchback constantly it doesn’t ever feel too bad. Most of the forest grind is open terrain, but you may encounter some bushy stretches. Still, it shouldn’t be anything too debilitating and it should be over in short order.
At around 1,950m elevation you’ll break out of the forest and gain the western ridge. The views will now open up, with Cayoosh Mountain the prominent peak to the west, and the Joffre group of peaks to the south stealing the show. The remainder of the route now simply follows this wide ridge, with ever improving views opening up as you do so.
From the start of the ridge to the summit is around 2km of travel, with another 300m of gain. All of this offers breathtaking views on a clear day, so take your time and enjoy it. Most of the ridge is very straightforward, but there is one short, steeper section that you might want to take care on, particularly if avalanche conditions are unfavorable. For us it was a cinch, but we had ideal conditions and tracks to follow.
After a short and incredibly scenic plod along the ridge you’ll reach the broad summit of Wonk Peak, now offering panoramic views of Mount Rohr, the Joffre group, Cayoosh Mountain, Saxifrage Peak, Mount Marriott and countless more. On a sunny and clear day, the views will be hard to beat.
After resting up at the summit you can simply return back the way you came. More adventurous parties could alternatively return via Rohr Lake (+3km), which requires a finicky descent to the col between Wonk and Rohr, before a steep descent down to the lake. From here there will quite likely be skin tracks to follow back out.
You’ll note we took a different route on our descent, following a different set of tracks. This route was actually more mellow and less bushy, however it was less trafficked. If there are tracks on this route I would probably recommend it as it was quite a nice descent back to the road.
When should I hike Wonk Peak?
Peak winter and early spring will be best for Wonk Peak, as you want a healthy snowpack to cover the forest bush. This is also when ski tourers tend to be out and about, so you’re more likely to benefit from skin tracks during this time. With that said, January to April is best, but a month either side might be okay as well. If you prefer a summer ascent, I’d suggest going via the Mount Rohr trail, not this route.
Top Tip
You shouldn’t need an ice axe or mountaineering crampons for this one, just snowshoes and microspikes should be plenty.
Parking along Duffey Lake Road can be busy in the winter on a sunny weekend. Ideally plan to get there early to ensure you get a spot.
