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| View of snowfield and summit (right) from upper ridge |
My friends and their family decided to head back to Salmon, ID early Sunday morning and so I also decided to not stick around for the last day of the bluegrass festival. I had my sights on Trapper Peak. Not only was it a peak above 10,000 feet, but also it was the highest peak in Ravali County and in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I knew it was a peak I wanted to climb for the peak challenge.
I left the festival and drove less than 30 minutes to get to the trailhead. I knew there were a couple routes up the peak, but not knowing much about any of them, I decided to just take the standard route up the trail. I was slightly disappointed to see a couple cars in the parking lot, but it was a little after 8:00 a.m. on a popular peak and I almost expected there to be more. I packed up and hit the trail.
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| North Trapper (far right) and Bitterroot range to El Capitan (far left) |
Immediately the trail started to climb steeply. I knew the trail was not very long and figured that meant it would be rather steep. That was fine with me as I was looking to have a climb that would not take me all day. I hoped to have it be a half-day adventure and leave me the afternoon to figure out what to do next.
It was a beautiful morning and after just a short ways the trail neared a rocky ridge, where I had some views through the trees over across the drainage to Boulder Peak and the beautiful ridges that led up to and away from that peak. The trail eventually turned away from the rocky ridge and headed back into the forest. It maintained a steep grade and I climbed and climbed. It came to a point that I started wishing for some switchbacks. The trail was so steep in spots and heading directly up the fall-line that it had gotten wide from use and water damage. This made it very rutted in spots and quite rocky, which added to the steepness, made it a bit difficult. I was excited to be out there, though, and carried on with a smile on my face.
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| East Trapper |
Eventually I caught up to a couple that had left before me. They were still a bit below treeline when I saw them and they were not moving very fast. I said hello and carried on up the mountain. Not long after passing them I ran into a lone hiker coming down from the summit. He must have gotten quite an early start. After meeting him I carried on through the thinning forest and could tell I was nearing treeline. A bit further and the trees really thinned out and I had some of my first real views up toward the peak. Here the trail seemed to lessen in grade and I worked my way up to a ridge where I met another single hiker coming down from the summit. He had come up another route and I asked him about it. He said that in the summer it was the only route he took and I vowed to try that route the next time I ascended the peak.
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| Unnamed highpoint southwest of Trapper |
Not long after meeting with him I continued on and the trail became more and more faint as it died out in large boulders. I hopped from one to another for a while and then made my way to a snow slope on the edge of the ridge that helped me ascend the slope easier. Once past the snow I was out on the large boulders again working my way up the mountain. The footing was a bit difficult and the traveling was slow but before long I found my way to the final high saddle and from there it was about ten minutes of boulder hopping to the summit.
I had the top to myself and sat up there for some time taking in the views, snapping photos, and eating my snacks. Eventually the couple I had passed far below made it to the high saddle. I had been up there for some time and decided to let them enjoy the top for themselves and I started to descend. From the saddle I decided to traverse a bit and see if the boulder hopping was any better. It was and I found my way down to where the trail disappeared and had a lovely stroll along the high ridge for a bit before the trail started descending.
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| Alpine flower on high ridge |
At this point, I started seeing more hikers coming up the trail. I began to pass groups every so often and the trail started to remind me more and more of climbing a 14er in Colorado. I eventually came to a family down in the thin trees just below treeline. The mother was sitting on a log and not looking very comfortable. She asked me how far it was. I told her it was not too far. She asked what that meant. I said that it meant that I had been enjoying myself and had not been paying attention as to how long it had taken me to get down to that point. I said they were almost to a spot where they could see the summit. This encouraged them slightly and I'm not sure if they made it. The view when you can first see the summit does not make you feel like you are very close.
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| Alpine views looking toward unnamed highpoint and Boulder Peak |
I passed more and more people coming up and I was glad to be descending. Most of the looks on faces said that people were tired and hoping they were higher than they were and I tried not to make it seem to bad for most of them. This part really reminded me of the Colorado 14ers. There were a lot of people asking if they were almost there yet and looking like they were not going to make it. Hopefully most of them did. As the trail was steep I came down the mountain pretty quickly. I made it to my car and since it was still early in the afternoon I decided to go back to the bluegrass festival and catch the last couple bands before heading back north to Missoula.
Elevation gain: 3800' Total gain: 113,080'
