Hat Mountain & Fat Ass Peak Loop

July 7, 2023

Distance: 17km round-trip

Elevation gain: 1510m

Time required: 7-8 hours total

There are two side-by-side peaks located just west of the Howe Sound Crest trail on the North Shore. There is a loop you can do to reach them both.

There are two main points of entry for these peaks: via the Sunset Drive parking lot in Lions Bay or as an offshoot from the Howe Sound Crest Trail. The more popular route, and the one that I did, is to do a loop starting from Sunset Drive. This is the trailhead that the most popular North Shore hikes start from including Tunnel Bluffs, The Lions, and Mount Brunswick.

The trail follows the old logging road until reaching the Tunnel Bluffs trail junction. This point is where the loop begins with the choice of doing it clockwise or counterclockwise. The most popular choice is clockwise on what is called the West Ridge Trail. This trail climbs up until reaching Hat Mountain. It is not overly technical, with minor scrambling involved. It took me 3 hours and 20 minutes to reach the peak.

Hanover Lake and Brunswick Lake from Hat Mountain. Mount Hanover looms up behind Brunswick Lake on the right.

Radio repeater on Hat Mountain

Self-evident photo of Fat Ass Peak to the south, with Brunswick Mountain in behind

From Hat Mountain, you descend down to a small saddle before climbing back up to reach Fat Ass Peak, which is a slightly smaller mountain on the same ridgeline. It only takes about 20 minutes to reach it from Hat Mountain. I do not know who named this peak or why but I absolutely love that Fat Ass Peak is the official name. It reminds me of the hilarious and wacky names that people give mountain biking trails.

Looking back on Hat Mountain from Fat Ass Peak

From Fat Ass Peak, you descend south before shortly reach the intersecting Howe Sound Crest Trail. You travel south on this trail for a short while before reaching the Brunswick Mountain trail. You then take this trail which switchbacks down the slope before linking back to the Tunnel Bluffs trail junction where the loop began. A quick hike down the old logging road completes the loop.

This loop isn't overly difficult to an experienced hiker. It is well-marked and features only minor scrambling. However, the trail is fairly long and has significant elevation gain.