Opal Ridge (South Loop)
This is definitely an undervalued route. It’s steep from the very beginning, and that is good because you don’t have to warm yourself up for several kilometers through a boring forest just to get to the fun stuff. There are a few scrambling sites, and by scrambling I mean hanging the hiking poles on one arm and using teeth and both hands to pull up. Some sections have loose rocks, and one might say even “exposure”, but nothing too scary or too technical, just fun with a drop of adrenaline.
What is important, amazing views begin to pay off all your effort almost right away, all you need is good weather and no smoke.
But the most breathtaking scenery comes in sight once you get to the ridge and can see the other side.
If you decide to do the loop, you need to traverse the ridge to the South edge, where the Grizzly Creek separates it from Grizzly Peak, and then descent to the col:
At this point it’s very tempting to use the scree gully for descent, but we suggest don’t do that and hike the col a bit further down to the trail. I took a few close-up pictures of that gully later from Grizzly Peak side, and it looks indeed very welcoming at the top, but then lower it gets very steep (like a vertical wall in some places) and possibly cliffs out:
More photos from Opal Ridge South hike are here: