Vesper Peak — Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

It was a great day for Phlemy and me! The road to the trailhead is in very good condition, but that's where all maintenance ends. The trail is in the usual poor shape, but that just helps to keep the riff raff out! The stream crossing is fine since someone built a little bridge between two boulders and it's quite solid if a little airy. Still, five steps and you're done. We encountered a bee's nest at about 1/2 mile in the middle of the trail and I was the lucky one who got nailed, but a benadryl fixed me up just fine and I can hardly tell I was zapped. It's the usual rough and rugged trail to Headlee Pass and beyond, but all snow is gone until you reach Lake Elan which is still almost completely frozen. Still, it needs to be said that this trail was so much rougher and more difficult to stay on 20 years ago and lots of boots have improved it a lot. We remained in the clouds until Headlee Pass when the skies opened up and became clear and gorgeous. Perfect timing! The first bit of the route from the Lake and the campsites were snow free, but the steeper slopes below the summit were snow covered and a bit hard today so we stuck to the rocks on the north side rather than my usual route and it worked out just fine. We saw only one other party of two people on the mountain which was very unusual for Vesper. It could only be because of the unfavorable weather forecast which turned out to be inaccurate. We had a fine lunch on the summit with views of the peaks of Del Campo, Sperry, Pilchuck, Big Four and others nestled in a sea of clouds. If only I hadn't stupidly forgotten my camera! No pix today. Also, no bugs at all until the trip down when we were attacked by flies, but it hardly seemed fair to complain after such a nice trip that far. We made a quick stop at the newly remodeled Green Gables in Verlot to buy a soda. They've really worked hard at making a cute and funky little grill here and even though we were in a hurry to get going, I plan to stop sometime soon for a burger. It's great to see the old place still running and trying something new.