North Trapper Peak

BOU AVENUE
North Trapper Peak

Two years ago, I was driving north along US Highway 93 between Lost Trail Pass and Darby, Montana when some spectacular peaks to the west caught my eye. I would later learn that these are parts of the Trapper Peak massif, the highest point in the Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana. Curiously, North Trapper Peak is officially named as a separate mountain, and although it is not the highest peak in the massif, it is without question the most striking especially when viewed from the highway. Despite looking rather impregnable, North Trapper Peak actually has a non-technical climbing route which is well-described in Summitpost.org. On my way to Idaho for the upcoming total solar eclipse, I took a short detour on 19 August 2017 to climb this beautiful peak.

To get to the trailhead for North Trapper Peak, I turned onto West Fork Road (State Highway 473) from US Highway 93 and headed south to the signed turnoff to Baker Lake (a little over 11 kilometres south of the junction between Highways 93 and 473; if coming from the south on Highway 93, Conner Cutoff Road can be used as a short cut). The drive to the trailhead via forestry roads 363 and 5634 took awhile, but the roads were generally in pretty good shape all the way there (2WD okay, high clearance recommended).

A good trail runs up past a rock outcrop known as Baker Point and visits three successively higher tarns--Baker Lake, Middle Lake and Gem Lake. This is a deservedly popular and well-maintained trail, and there are lots of good camping spots at each of the tarns. On this day, I encountered a lot of other hikers on the trail, but somewhat surprisingly, no one else ventured beyond Gem Lake.

	A crescent moon and the planet Venus hang in the eastern sky before dawn.
	A map on a signboard at the trailhead shows a general overview of the area near North Trapper Peak. The trailhead is at the end of forestry road 5634.
	A rock outcrop called Baker Point is located about 600 metres from the trailhead.
	Sonny stands atop Baker Point (2264 metres) with East Trapper Peak visible in the distance.
	East Trapper Peak is reflected in Baker Lake.
	Sonny arrives at Middle Lake.
	The off-trail route to North Trapper Peak begins at Gem Lake and climbs up to the col on the right.

From Gem Lake, I climbed up to a high col to the north before briefly descending a very steep path on the other side. The Summitpost.org route description mentions that it is possible to take a short cut here to minimize elevation loss while entering the basin below North Trapper Peak. The alternative is to drop all the way down the north side of the col before climbing back up to the basin. Being the lazy sort, I opted to take the short cut, but as I would quickly find out, it entails some difficult and exposed down-climbing. I spent considerable time route-finding and slithering down a few challenging drop-offs before finally reaching easy terrain again.

There are nice camping spots in the trees to the left.

This is Gem Lake as seen from partway up the route to the col.

	Numerous beaten paths run between the rocks up to the col.
	The route drops steeply down the north side of the col.
	This ledge leads to a short cut that saves some elevation loss, but the route is not easy and entails some difficult down-climbing.
	North Trapper Peak finally comes into view across the basin. The route to the summit is marked. According to Summitpost.org, this is the Olbu Southeast Face route which is named after the man--Gerald Olbu--who popularized it.
	The difficulty of the short cut route is more evident here.

Hiking into the basin, I aimed for the bottom of an obvious couloir running up the southeast face of North Trapper Peak. Following the route description, I left the couloir partway up and traversed westward across large slabs. This avoids more technical terrain further up the couloir. When it seemed feasible, I resumed climbing upwards until I reached the base of some large blackish cliffs guarding the upper mountain. Here, I traversed back eastward on a bit of a ledge, but instead of re-entering the couloir, I turned up a broad, shallow gully which ultimately leads to the summit ridge. The scrambling here up Class 3/4 terrain is straightforward and enjoyable, and I was soon looking down the precipitous north face of North Trapper Peak.

	This is looking up from the bottom of the couloir.
	Pretty yellow flowers adorn the couloir.
	Sonny grinds his way up the couloir. The exit point is just around the next corner.
	After leaving the couloir, Sonny walks across large slabs on the southeast face of North Trapper Peak.
	This is looking back along the ledge (right) just below blackish cliffs. The ledge is used to traverse back toward the couloir in order to circumvent the steep slabs at the bottom of the photo.
	Instead of re-entering the couloir, the route turns up this broad, shallow gully.

The crux of the route is a 2-metre high step just below the first and easternmost of three distinct summits. Previous climbers had stacked rocks at the base of this step to make it easier to ascend, but feeling that this was somewhat unsporting, I circumvented the step altogether by going around it on climber's left. This turned out to be easier said than done as I ventured onto some frightfully exposed terrain to get around the crux. Even past the crux, I had some difficulty scrambling up onto the first summit. In fact, the entire summit ridge requires some care to maneuver as the stacked boulders there all have an airy feel to them. Nevertheless, I had no further problems tagging both the middle summit and the westernmost (true) summit.

	Just before the first summit is this crux. It is challenging to climb up even with the stacked rocks at the bottom.
	For some unknown reason, the summit register container is located on the first summit which is not the highest point on the mountain.
	The westernmost (true) summit and the middle summit are a short distance away from the first summit.
	This is looking back at the first summit from the middle summit.
	Here is the westernmost (true) summit as seen from the middle summit.

Sonny reaches the westernmost (true) summit of North Trapper Peak (2980 metres).

	To the south are East Trapper Peak and Trapper Peak.
	The Bitterroot Mountains stretch away to the north. On the distant horizon at far left is El Capitan.
	The col above Gem Lake is at centre in this view to the southeast.

On descent, I chose to tackle the crux and awkwardly slid down onto the climbers' stacked rocks. I then retraced my steps more or less back down the shallow gully and the couloir including the long detour out onto the large slabs. The few small cairns that I had built on my way up were very reassuring to see on my way down. In the basin, I took a short break by a creek to rest and rehydrate before resuming my return to the high col. The short cut was much easier to negotiate this time since I knew the route already and was mostly climbing upward on the more difficult sections. After clearing the high col, I descended to Gem Lake without any trouble and subsequently enjoyed a pleasant hike back to the trailhead.

North Trapper Peak turned out to be a rather long day for me, but oddly enough, it never felt long. With a scenic approach trail, very little scree and lots of wonderful hands-on scrambling, North Trapper Peak ranks among the best scrambles I have done this year. I plan to return in the future to hike up the higher and technically easier Trapper Peak, but that ascent might feel a bit anticlimactic to me in comparison to the thrills I experienced on North Trapper Peak.

	Here is a hazy view of East Trapper Peak, Trapper Peak and North Trapper Peak from US Highway 93 two days later.
	Total Distance: 14.9 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 11 hours 26 minutes Total Elevation Gain: 1175 metres GPX Data