Trappers in Paradise

We met early in the morning at the Lynnwood Transit Center and then headed to the trailhead. After passing a number of people who could continue driving up the rough road we ended up at the parking area. From there we started up the trail. The first the part of this trail is flat with very little elevation gain honest we cruised through this less then desirable section. Once though the road ran out this trail steepened its grade and along with that became far more challenging for a now much larger EastKing. I slowed up on this section as we rose through the trees. The trail continued up at a moderate grade. Without a decent spring and summer I don't know if I would have hung in as well as I did, but despite the heavy sweating, I fought through this section. 

From their I powered on all the way to turnoff. Steve and I took a break at the turnoff in which I needed more than he did. From there we began up the ridgeline to the summit of Trappers. A crux of the trip started early. It was nice short easy 200 foot Class 3 scramble followed by a trail followed again by more lighter scrambling. There is one very short walking knife section but to be honest this section was not that bad and this is coming from someone who is not the strongest scrambler in the world. As we rose up Trappers I took some break along the way. Every foot we went up resulted in better and better views. The landscape was downright stunning and captivating. We though kept going and going though I was going slower as we approach the summit. After about 3 hours from the trailhead we made it to the summit. 

Trappers Peak lived up to its reputation. The views from the summit were downright stunning with Triumph and Despair right in my eyes. Looking south from the summit rocks we could see over a hundred different summits. I can only I pray that I hike one tenth of the mountains that I saw on this day. This was the prettiest mountain I have done and years. The stunning fall colors just accentuated the beauty that we saw from this trip. It clearly ignited a new passion for hiking with Steve who quickly started asking me about different mountains we should hike before the end of the year. We went on to do 10 more hikes in 2017.  

This was the most scenic hike/scramble I did in 2017. Will this lead to a great 2018 only time will tell. One thing is that I got a great hiking and climbing partner from this climb. Hopefully that will result in many more awesome trips. There was one time in early 2017 in which I began to wonder if I would be hiking much anymore. Thankfully I found this group and I am ready to rock it in 2018.