Vesper Peak, Headlee Pass and Vesper Lake — Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Current conditions are perfect for a summit of Vesper Peak and/or Sperry Peak. The trail is nearly snow free up to about 100 feet below Headlee Pass, and for most of the traverse over to Lake Elan. Vesper peak has 2-3 feet of snow above the lake and a well beaten path broken in by at least 5 pairs of snowshoes since Friday. I reached the summit at 10 am without snowshoes, and experienced only minor post-holing, mostly on the way down. Sperry peak appeared to have just a light dusting, most of which was caught by small vegetation. Both of the dogs did great on Vesper but sperry seemed to have more scrambling than I wanted to drag them along for. Saw about 20 people and a few dogs on the way out. more pictures and details coming soon