This traverse is extremely exposed.Partial summit panorama. Likely next winter.Ahead is the rock outcrop we had to bypass on this (south) side. Call the Wilderness Information Center at (360) 854-7245 the day of or the day before your trip to obtain a permitThornton Lakes and Trappers Peak.
Too steep and icy to skin up…Vern traversing a steep slope. Call the Wilderness Information Center at (360) 854-7245 the day of or the day before your trip to obtain a permit Amazing scenery and recreational opportunities are at your fingertips. The rest of the slog back up the trees wasn’t as fun though. Proceed down this sometimes rough gravel road for about five miles to the trailhead at the road's end.You can improve or add to this guidebook entry
Others such as Trapper Peak are generally done as day trips only during the shoulder seasons of late fall and spring. Photo by VernVern down-climbing and traversing north facing slope.
I should have checked my GPS earlier… We ended up doing some unpleasant bushwhacking but eventually made back to the road.Mount Patterson is another one needs low/low/low conditionOur round trip time was 10.5 hours that includes getting lost in the bush for both the approach and return.
trip with alpine to subalpine glade skiing above wonderful tree skiing through 1994 burn area. I’ll probably return to ski them, but not in the near future.Towards the end of the flats there’s a short canyon with open water flowing.
Since we didn’t car camp at the trail-head, every minute counted starting at the moment when we woke up. Baker. Our lodge has breathtaking panoramic views of the Sapphire & Bitterroot Mountain ranges.
Excellent spring day trip with extraordinary open alpine slopes above subal-pine glades. Well, it also shows the elevation loss…Vern on the glacier.
Near the crest of the moraine now.The view opened up widely once passing the research station, but it was also very disappointing to see the massive amount of elevation loss to the glacier.
Trappers Peak embodies the ruggedness and remoteness of the North Cascades. I was just glad we didn’t have to chop through a cornice (that might be the case in some circumstances).Then it came the ridge… We thought the difficulties were over once clearing the slope but we were so wrong.
The natural route would be following the creek bed/canyon, but that’s a very dangerous route (much more dangerous than Bow Hut’s canyon). Part of Mt.
As you can see the ski penetration was zeroThe terrain around here was a bit more rolling than expected. Subscribe to our free email newsletter for hiking events, news, gear reviews and more. We enjoyed a nice break under the sun once getting to a safe position before enjoying the fast run down the Peyto Glacier. Since we were too climber’s left, to access Trapper col we had to either traverse a steep slope that’s threatened by a gigantic cornice, or lose elevation and climb back up. Ski Mountaineering, skiing, St. Mary Peak, Trapper Peak, WA - 8365 feet, Washington. Trapper Peak Trail is a 8.1 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Conner, Montana that offers the chance to see wildlife and is rated as difficult. To successfully and safely do it in one (sunny spring) day, efficiency and speed are arguably the most important things.
It’s certainly not gonna be a great spring for scramblers, but the record-breaking amount of snow fall combined with cold temperature makes the snow condition excellent. We skin’d uphill gently on the middle of the Peyto Glacier, and once up the ‘ramp’ we veered climber’s right towards our objective.Gorgeous view of Peyto Glacier from the crest of the moraine. It’s a summer ascent via Caldron Lake.Looking down the ridge connecting to Tilly Peak. Trapper Peak is home to a herd of elk, both cows and bulls.
I could once again, make some parallel turns on the corn snow. For most part we had to face inwards.
Northeast slopes of Trapper Peak from Gem Lake.
When you reach the lowest of the Thornton Lakes you’ll be faced with a decision: relax near the alpine waters, or scramble the rocky ridge that leads to Trappers Peak.
A backcountry permit is required to camp overnight in North Cascades National Park. This has been a superb spring so far if you enjoy skiing, snowshoeing or snow climbing/mountaineering.
Photo by VernThe skiing was way better than expected.
I think elevation loss is the theme of this approach. Those are just south of Mummery GroupI solo’d Mt.
For the big slope we also started facing inwards.
Even though we were mentally prepared for that, it never felt safe to be underneath a giant cornice. We followed the ski tracks staying on the right side.
The snow was excellent so why not.
Photo by VernMistaya Mountain looks great from here.
Bushwhacking on skis wasn’t fun at all and we wasted some valuable time here, but in any case it’s not a long way down to the lake so that was okay. The first challenge was getting down to Peyto Lake from the parking lot. I didn’t quite appreciate the exposure (on skier’s right) so ski’d very cautiously until lower down.Me skiing down. We were not done yet. And once over the crest of the moraine, we initially walked down the top part but soon we decided to ski it. For me there’re a few “bigger ones” on the list but given the fact we’d only have two people and one day, Though not nearly the biggest on the Wapta Icefield, Trapper Peak is certainly one of the trickiest climbs up there.
That brought us a bit climber’s left on the glacier and would lead to the next decision-making point. There was a ton of snow but getting up the icy slopes was difficult even with ski crampons and felt quite exposed.Looking back towards Silverhorn Mountain and Observation PeakLooking ahead.
Apart from good snow stability (obviously), the lack of cornice failure is a key to survive this section. We had to be off the slope for as fast as we could.