A hiker wends his way up Headlee Pass. Photo by Paul Bestock.

Huff and puff up a grueling old miners trail. Brave crashing creek crossings and a steep open hillside choked in jungle greenery before making an Achilles-aching ascent to Headlee Pass, an inconspicuous gap between towering and rocky Morning Star and Sperry peaks. From this portal to past riches, follow a scant path across jumbled talus to beautiful Vesper Lake, sparkling beneath the granite-graced slopes of Vesper Peak. Once the domain of hardscrabble prospectors, Vesper Lake now pays scenic dividends to tenacious trekkers.

Built by miners over a century ago, nature has done its darndest to reclaim this trail. Rock slides, avalanches, washouts, and creeping greenery have kept modern-day trail crews busy assuring that the Sunrise Mine Trail No. 707 doesn't fade into history like its namesake.

The trail begins in scrappy forest. Plenty of exposed roots and rocks will help keep your pace in check. So will numerous creek crossings, especially the one at 0.5 mile, where the South Fork Stillaguamish crashes through a rocky draw. In early season and after heavy rainfall, it may have you seeking an alternative hike for the day.

Once past the gauntlet of roots and rivulets, break out of the forest to an open slope flush in thick tread-concealing vegetation. Work your way up the steep hillside, avoiding hidden obstacles like ankle-twisting holes and rocks. Stop and marvel at a huge and impressive landslide gully and contemplate the forces of nature that created it.

Push through more brushy terrain before entering an attractive grove of big yellow cedars. Soon afterward, the trail comes to a forbidden basin flanked by steep rocky walls-a stark corridor deprived of the sun's warming rays for much of the day. Scan the encompassing sheer slopes for Headlee Pass. Surely this passage must be up there somewhere.

Press on over rocky terrain and through cloisters of mountain hemlock spared from cavalcades of unforgiving avalanches, and toil into the high country so coveted by those who hastily built this trail. After a series of short switchbacks and a bit of scree hopping, the trail makes a sharp bend right, the passage out now revealed. The next 0.25 mile is extremely steep on tread periodically destroyed by heavy snows and tumbling rocks. Use caution to avoid threatening hikers below with dislodged rocks.

Between breaths, stop to take in newly emerging views of Mount Dickerman across the South Fork Stillaguamish valley and of Glacier Peak in the distance. At 2.7 miles and after 2400 feet of climbing, reach Headlee Pass (elev. 4600 ft), a small notch of a gap between Sperry and Morning Star peaks. There's not much here to compensate you for your effort, so carry on following good but unmaintained tread. After a slight drop, the way resumes climbing, crossing a large scree slope. Carefully traverse the open rock heap coming to Vesper Creek. Then turn up slope to follow the churning creek a short way until-voila! A stark but gorgeous upper valley is revealed.

Here beneath the snowfields and shiny granite slopes of Vesper Peak is sparkling Vesper Lake (elev. 4950 ft). Of course the miners weren't interested in any of this beauty, only in the precious gems and valuable ore that might have been hidden be-neath it. And while the surrounding hills no longer carry the sounds of grunting prospectors, occasionally low murmurs can be heard emanating from the alpine tundra. Keep your eyes open for white-tailed ptarmigans, a member of the grouse family that makes this beautiful but harsh alpine environment its home.