Elain, with Trappers Peak in the background
We were looking for an easy scramble with great views to try out our new digital camera (we'd been very rough on our old one and it was time to retire it). One of our guide books raved about the views from Trappers Peak so we settled on it. Steve was still harboring a cold from our trip to CO, so we got a late start, leaving Seattle a little after 8 AM. The drive up I-5 and Highway 20 went quickly, but the last 5 miles to the trailhead were slow. The road was quite rough and we were glad we had brought the higher clearance Jeep. We started hiking at 11:10 AM on an old logging road. The road led directly to a trail which switched back through the forest for several miles. At the trail post marking the trails to the Thornton Lakes and Trappers Peak we continued up the climbers' path towards Trappers Peak. The path made its way to the ridge, with just a short section of non-exposed class 2, and then along the ridge to the summit of Trappers. The views along the ridge just kept improving as we climbed higher. We reached the summit around 1:50 PM. The views on the summit, especially of the southern Pickets, were outstanding. As we had our lunch on the broad summit plateau, we spoke briefly to a party of three who planned to hike over to Thornton Lakes. After lunch, we had the summit to ourselves and snapped a number of photos of the peaks in all directions. We started down around 2:15 PM. We were slow hiking out, arriving at the car at 5:10 PM. Round-trip distance was 11 miles and the elevation gain was 3400'.
Elain, with Trappers Peak in the background
Thornton Lakes and Thorton Peak
View to the northeast
Mount Triumph
The Southern Pickets Range (including The Rake, Terror, Degenhardt,
Pyramid, Inspiration, East/West McMillan Spires)
Looking down the Trappers Peak ridge
The mossy abandoned logging road