In mid-October we hiked to the top of Zoa Peak in the Coquihalla Summit area on a warm fall day.   The trailhead area was busy with Trans Mountain Pipeline work as we started out, hiking along the original pipeline track for the first section.   This lower elevation area had a lot of faded flowerheads, including some common tansy.

As we climbed through the yellow cedar and hemlock forest, we started to find blueberries in glades, providing fall color for the rest of the hike.

In a small glade we spotted amanita muscaria (fly agaric), a hallucinogenic mushroom.  Amanitas are often found in pine forests.

In a rocky meadow were a number of spreading phlox (phox diffusa) plants, with a few still in flower.

High on the mountain ridge were a number of white-bark pine (pinus albicaulis) trees.   Snags stood out in the forest or on windy ridges.

In the subalpine meadows, heather was abundant, but only one shrub was still flowering, at 1787 m.

We returned the way we came and at the bottom of the trail, more flowers had opened with the warm sun.

pale agoseris

We hike Zoa Peak in the fall about every second year.    It is the most accessible summit in the Coquihalla Summit area so we will probably be back again next year.