Trapper Peak via Baker Lake - Hiking the Bitterroot Valley

We took an alternate route to Trapper Peak and it turned out to be beautiful! During our last trip to the Bitterroot valley and to my (Shane's) hometown, Hamilton Montana, we took a hike up to Trapper Peak, the highest peak in the Bitterroot Mountains. Travis convinced us to take a bit of an unconventional route that his mom had taken before. It took us by beautiful Baker Lake. We also ended up going up to Middle Lake, but that was a bit of a detour. Both lakes are beautiful and, as I understand it, Gem Lake (which is just a little further up the hanging valley), is even prettier. The last time I hiked Trapper Peak, I was in Junior High! Oddly enough, that time was with Travis too. We've definitely been friends a long time. We love hiking around Montana, and I was lucky enough to be raised in one of the Bitterroot Valley, which I think is one of the most beautiful valleys in Montana. Unfortunately, I didn't get out into the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains as much as I would have liked to growing up. I didn't get into hiking until my last couple of years in high school, which were also my last couple of years in the Bitterroot. We hope that you enjoy this adventure and maybe try it out yourself! We put together a specific explanation along with a Google Earth tour of the trail in order to more clearly explain how to take this route. Something we wish we had before taking on the alternative route.