Trapper Peak, Bitterroot Wilderness, Father-Daughter 2013

A couple of tough chicks.

My neighbor Kevin Dohr moved into the neighborhood at the same time we did, with his wife Kim and her daughter Elan. The girls have been good friends ever since, and over the past several years Kevin and I have taken them on overnight trips up the Rattlesnake corridor. This year we decided to backpack. I suggested that we retrace the Gem Lake route up to Trapper Peak that Jen, the kids, and I had done 5 or 6 years back.

Gem Lake with the saddle up to Trapper in the upper-left.

Baker Lake is about 1 & 1/4 miles from the trailhead. It's a steep walk, the trail having been built in the pre-switchback era of trail building. About 3/4 of a mile further, just beyond Middle Lake, is the beautiful Gem Lake, where we camped.

Kevin at the fire ring, Gem Lake.

From Gem Lake, you walk straight up a chute to a saddle and onto the face where the main Trapper Peak trail is located. The trip up the chute is steep and filled with loose rocks and boulders. Care must be taken when you walk through it, especially with a group.

Starting the walk up the chute.

Boulder hopping.

And more boulder hopping.



Resting near the top of the chute.



And finally at the top.

After leaving the chute, the walking is easy for about 1/4 mile, through high, rocky meadows above trealine.

Taking a break from the wind.

And then there's the 1/4 mile scree slope up to the peak.

Kevin near the top.

Views from the top are spectacular.

me on top.

the girls on top.

Walking down on scree.

long-time friends.

We headed back down the way we'd come up, taking care through the boulder fields in the chute.

Dropping back into the chute down to Gem Lake.