Vesper Peak — Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025

Some of the best views we've had anywhere, but you'll have to work for it. We went up on Sunday 8/10 and the heat was a little much with near full exposure for the entire trail, so it was abnormally slow-going for us with extra breaks. Shortly after reaching the top of Headlee pass, we came across an injured hiker (ankle) who asked for SAR help, and thankfully we had our Garmin in-reach (no cell signal at all). By the time we were at the final approach we turned to see/hear a helicopter flying in to extract him. Pretty neat! Impressively fast response by SAR and very cool to receive a text that he was out safely. Overall, fantastic challenging, fun, and gorgeous hike. Bring extra water and a filtering device for the lake, odds are you'll need more than you think, especially on a hot day.