[Randy]

I found myself with several free, unobstructed hours on Friday and headed for the mountains. From what I had heard, Trappers Peak was to yield big views and did it ever. I eventually left Sea-Town at 0900 and drove north hoping to tuck my peak in before the forecasted storm hit with wind and rain. I sat stopped in my car for a total of 28 minutes as I waited for the construction crews to pave the shoulder along the Mountain Loop Highway west of Darrington. I could not believe they would make a peakbagger wait for his prize! Drive the Mountain Loop on weekdays at your own risk because with the construction it's no longer the faster route to HWY 20. Anyway, to finish off the drive to the trailhead, pull off HWY 20 between MP 117 and 118 and head up the road several miles to the Thornton Lakes trailhead, approximate elevation 2580'. I tossed out several of the 10 essentials as part of my trailhead ritual to lighten my pack as much as possible, and with that, I finally had sneakers moving down the trail at 1145. The sign at the trailhead says no bikes allowed probably because the first two miles of trail follow an abandoned road 80% of which would be perfect for one. Too bad I didn't have mine. The first mile is nearly flat and allows for ample jogging opportunities. I had to dip and rise to get around a couple washouts, but there were really no problems up to the crossing of Thornton Creek. I wasn't expecting to have to cross anything of this size...probably because I had yet to look at the map. I bashed my way up-river a bit too far missing the obvious, flagged crossing in the process. I had to make a 7' leap of faith from one rock to another, but on the way back I used the normal route. I bashed through some brush to get back over to the trail/road and enjoyed the well graded route up the end of the road at about 3150', 2 miles from the car. I still had about 3000' of gain to push out and I was anxious to get started. The trail did not disappoint and alternated between somewhat steep and medium steep for the next couple of miles. I stirred up 5 grouse en route to the ridge which kept my heart rate a little more elevated than normal. At 4450' I crossed into NCNP and at 5100' I'd more or less made the ridge crest and the intersection with the trail that goes down to the lower of the Thornton Lakes. Here, it became clear that I would not need my boots and so I gutted them from my pack and kept moving. The trail to Trappers heads to the right on the south side of the ridge and is very well defined. After 150' of gain I came to a crappy, mud gully with some class 3 moves involved, but the rest of the way to the summit never involved more than class 2 scrambling. About 200' below the summit the wind really started to pick up, but the rain held off and I was beginning to get a taste of the bad-ass views I'd have from the summit. I made the top right at 1400 and was soon shooting pictures of the many spectacular views. Triumph and the Northern Pickets were impressive as were the cold and dark looking Thornton Lakes. There can't be a sub-6000' summit with better views than Trappers IMO. I stayed atop the broad summit for 25 minutes then headed back down. I stopped to pick up my boots and once I hit the road again it was smooth sailing back to Thornton Creek. I made an easy crossing this time using 4 or 5 rocks and a downed tree and was back at my truck a minute or two before 1600. Great trip that definitely solidified Triumph as a 2006 objective. Trappers (per Beave's 2004 report): 10 miles, 4000' of gain

[Tom]

[Randy]

Ugh. Dial up kills me, but I will try.

[Tom]

I guess it can wait.

[#19]

[Randy]

Yeah, I've been doing some research on triumph since my trip. That looks like the way up to the col, thanks for the picture!

[Scrooge]

[polarbear]

[adam]

a great loop trip in that area is to bypass trapper, go by the first lake, and then follow the ridge up to thornton peak, which is a non-technical scramble, although an ice axe was useful when I did it in august. I'm not sure that the views are better than trappers, but they're certainly not worse, and you're a lot closer to triumph-- and you feel like you've really climbed something, rather than just hike to the end of a trail. You can then go back via the "triumph ridge route" of beckey's green guide-- just follow the beautiful ridge back toward the car, with lots of looks over your shoulder to soak up the big views of triumph, and then drop down through the steep forest to the parking lot. The drop down is steep, and there was no path or marked route that I could find, but it's doable and doesn't cliff out. I did it at a steady but not fast pace and it took 11 hours. If I recall, Becky suggests that this is a quicker way to triumph than the trail route, which seems crazy, especially if you were trying to get up through that forest, but it is a nice connector to make a great high loop.

[Randy]

These aren't great shots, but here's what I saw:

[Tom]

Hmm, they look pretty good to me.

[kleet]

Oct 15, 2005 to Dec 01, 2005? Your dial-up connection really IS slow.

[dicey]

Awesome!!

[#19]

gaud! they're hideous. Please don't make me look at that horrible place any more.

[Backpacker Joe]