Trappers Peak

Date: July 18, 2022.

Objective.  Trappers Peak 5,996'.

Stats: 11 miles with 3500ft of gain in 7hrs round trip.  Class 2/3.

Partners: Roy.

Roy and I were coming off a pretty long day on Mount Shuksan two days ago.  We wanted to start up Mount Baker on Sunday (July 17) but we decided to call it off with some heavy fatigue and a changing weather forecast calling for some pretty cold temps.  It just didn't make sense to start another two day climb.  We changed the play and took an extra day off to rest and set our sites on "low hanging fruit", per the Beckey guide book. 

Trappers Peak trailhead sits inside the North Cascades National Park, so I figured that we would need a parking permit like everywhere else, but apparently not.  The forecast said clear skies but that was not the case at the trailhead.  No biggie, we just wanted to bag another peak and hopefully get a good view of the Picket Range.

The weather was cloudy and humid and not really cold.  The trail was still pretty muddy from all of the late season precip.  It was a straight forward hike on the trail to Thornton Lakes.  The route up the South Ridge up Trappers Peak leaves the trail just before the trail drops down to the lakes.

Hiking.

Looking towards the lakes.

Along the ridge.

Class 2/3.

Looking down the ridge.

There were a few sections of class 2/3 that were very fun.  There were a few snowfields that we had to cross that required thorough evaluation due to the limited visibility and steep ridge.  The whiteout was a bit concerning but we were able to find our way without much trouble.  There were a couple other peaks close by that could be linked, but that wasn't going to happen today.  We just couldn't see a gosh darn thing.  

After retracing our route back down to the trail, it was autopilot back to the car.  The Friggin' mosquitoes were so bad that we couldn't get in the car fast enough.

Steep section.

Whiteout.

Summit.

Roy on the summit.

Roy on the summit.

Steep drop off to the right.