Trip Report
14, 500 FEET UP MISSOULA MONTANA!
Sunday April 26, 2015 5:02pm
It really sounded so easy and fluid, but it was no walk in the park, Trapper Peak, 14,500 feet up, some got sick and had to turn back. I was with Lottie Merville, her sister Carrie, and a few other girls from the nearby Shining Mountain Ranch Indian Camp. It was always a challenge for us. The owner of the ranch, Bill Mitchell, pushed us to strive for excellence, we even went caving and lived like American Indians, had our own horses and pack mule. It was magic, but Trapper Peak turned almost deadly when we went off the trail a bit while coming back down, which is easier. We ran into a sleepy old female bear, I could smell her, and she was angry and hungry and just out of sleepy time. No cubs in site, but I remember my heart beat of its own accord as we all spotted the bear and high tailed so fast down the trail the the next day all my muscles hurt and none of us could get up for breakfast, they thought we were faking and accused of of smoking weed with the miners that had come though the day before, we were hanging with the miners and smoked out of an eagle claw, who could resist. So the trip ended so well, better than Saco. And it certainly will never be even close to Mt. Everest.

  Trip Report Views: 3,614
BloggerQueen61
About the Author
Leslie "Katie" Siegel Blogger Queen is a social climber from Valley Village.

Comments
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Apr 26, 2015 - 05:50pm PT
Thank you for sharing !
and to the river trip on the Saco?
I will read that and I will enjoy it even more than this fun read,
because in my past I was forced to stop climbing
and do that lazy river camp crawl and itch,
Itch ?
Itch To get back to rock and climbing!
And the black flies of course!

ionlyski

Trad climber
Polebridge, Montana
  Apr 26, 2015 - 08:25pm PT
That's one weird trip report or else I am missing something already discussed.

Anyway, Trapper Peak is no where near 14,500 feet. it's 10,150. What's up?

Arne
jgill

Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
  Apr 26, 2015 - 08:33pm PT
Hmmm . . . . . this certainly adds another dimension to ST trip reports. Like reading a chapter from Enos Mills.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
  Apr 26, 2015 - 08:35pm PT
I know all my pitches are longer than a rope length...and that sh#t adds up.
BloggerQueen61

Social climber
Valley Village
Author's Reply  Apr 29, 2015 - 11:51am PT
Oy, it felt like 14,000 plus, but yes, you are right, it's only 10K +, I remember seeing the sign, but it was long ago. It was a tough climb, but seeing a bear in real life, and smelling that smell of hers, I was seeing red and my lungs were filling up with hot air and turning tight. We ran, but paid for it. I'd never make it even a quarter of the way up Everest. Maybe if I was with Fred Ziel, but the last time he went, he got sick and left back down Everest. Now Trapper Peak, that was a good test. Once we did get to the top, it wasn't really the top, it was a ledge leading way up. Sorry for the mistake. I'm a novice. Maybe I'd have better luck with Mt. Pilot, or even the peaks in Montana that are not so dangerous. We had ready to eat meals and actually found food on the mountain. I'm amazed and was always happy I did it. Saco River, OY, not a good trip. It's so much more polluted, and I hope Everest isn't like Saco River in Maine. I'll let you know if I go anywhere else like a balloon cave we'd had our sights on for years.
BloggerQueen61

Social climber
Valley Village
Author's Reply  Apr 29, 2015 - 11:47am PT
I just looked up Enos Mills, and I don't know whether to take my post as a joke to you guys/gals, or that you were complimenting me on my attention to detail. But I've been all through Montana, Idaho and even Wyoming, it's a wild wild west in Yellowstone, like you stepped into another time. I felt the spirits of those who came before me. I wonder if they feel that on Everest. 7 days back packing in Yellowstone Park proved very good. Met some miners mining for garnets, gold and sapphires. We found Garnets, then they invited us into their trailer for some peace pipe smoking. Our cook, Doug Tinker ratted us out and I the guide took us aside and said we could never return. But it was such a beautiful place and time. I wish I could have behaved better, but maybe when I finally climb Everest, I'll have learned. When will that be? I don't know. I can pray. Thanks for reading. Next I'll talk about our caving trip in West Virginia.
labrat

Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
  Apr 29, 2015 - 02:54pm PT
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have as well!!

;-)
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
  Apr 29, 2015 - 04:08pm PT
Montana is unusual in that the 12,000' peaks are much more difficult than the 13'ers and 14'ers!
xtrmecat

Big Wall climber
Kalispell, Montanagonia
  Apr 29, 2015 - 07:25pm PT
My favorite bit of fiction is the running from a bear, and living to write about it. Not a common occurrence here in these parts.

Better yet, not knowing the mistake, and then writing about it.

Burly Bob
BloggerQueen61

Social climber
Valley Village
Author's Reply  Apr 15, 2016 - 09:43pm PT
A bit late, been out climbing! But to answer the last post, IT REALLY HAPPENED with the bear. When you actually come face to face with a real bear and smell that greasy musky odor of the bear, all reason is out the window, like if you were climbing and the rope slips, you panic at first, then get your bearings. My mind did not say "...stand still, play dead!' NO WAY my climbing friends. All I can say is if I close my eyes and bring myself back to that mountain, I see red behind my eyelids, and my lungs remember the hot sensation of air that is charged with FEAR! Non thinking ladies, that was us, but we did survive, the bear was old, had no cubs and basically wasn't in attack mode, we just saw her, and took off --- FIGHT OR FLIGHT, like the Zebra chased by lions!
yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
  Apr 16, 2016 - 05:42am PT
There's actually some pretty good rock climbing on North Trapper.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Apr 16, 2016 - 07:13am PT
Yes, in Montana the 12,000 ft. peaks are the most difficult precisely because there are no 13,000 or 14,000 ft. peaks.

Granite Peak at 12,807 ft. is the highest point.
jeff constine

Trad climber
Ao Namao
  Apr 16, 2016 - 06:46am PT
TR starts with a LIE lol WTF, Good one Donini! LOL TROLL TIME.
wbw

Trad climber
'cross the great divide
  Apr 16, 2016 - 08:05am PT
I was going to add before seeing Donini's post that I guided some Highpointers up Granite Peak 15-20 years ago. Many of our clients for Granite Peak at the time were Highpointers seeking to tick the last of the 48 high points in the continental U.S. , having saved Granite Peak because of its difficulty and remoteness. I couldn't remember its exact elevation, but a 14,500 ft. peak in Montana seemed wrong. (Glad it's not my senility this time.)
ryanb

climber
Hamilton, MT
  Apr 16, 2016 - 08:25am PT

Trapper peak summit view. I'd assumed the smoke was from fires but it may have been miners...
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Apr 16, 2016 - 08:50am PT
Reminds me of the time we had to run from a burly Marmot at 23,800 in the Sierra!
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
  Apr 16, 2016 - 08:56am PT
now before you go hating, listen to the whole song....after taking some ganja rips out of an eagle claw. this whole thing will make a lot more sense.



[Click to View YouTube Video]

And cheers to you, Leslie, for getting out there to experience our grand world with walking meditation.
Stewart Johnson

Gym climber
top lake
  Apr 16, 2016 - 08:54am PT
Fred Zeil will never be a barometer of performance on
Mt Everest.
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
  Apr 16, 2016 - 07:03pm PT
Not sure you are going to summit Everest but you will liven up base camp if you bring Alex, and you might want to leave Bobby Kendy at home.

Keep the TRs coming, and remember to Keep Calm, And Carry On.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
BloggerQueen61

Social climber
Valley Village
Author's Reply  Aug 10, 2016 - 04:32pm PT
I think I went a bit "overboard" on these comments. I weaved in so much and made it all seem like it all happened in one day. But as a kid on the Saco River for the first time, i still see the canoe with this fat guy and two campers in it and I saw it go under but the swim counselor helped and dived right in helped them as their supplies and sleeping bags,e etc began to go down the rapids. The swim gal managed to get it all and they swam to shore as she went under the canoe and pushed and put it right. Then we camped that night and the water turned to rain water and we almost drowned if not for the director of the came racing to our rescue. Too bad Fred Ziel was not with us. We may have made it whenthe water got to be a foot high on our beach we camped on.
jgill

Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
  Aug 10, 2016 - 04:52pm PT
Reference to Enos Mills was meant as a compliment.


;>)
johntp

Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
  Aug 10, 2016 - 05:13pm PT
Reminds me of the time we had to run from a burly Marmot at 23,800 in the Sierra!

Been there, done that. Those marmots above 20,000 feet in the sierra are pretty bad ass.
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