Headlee Pass and Vesper Lake, Vesper Peak — Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

There are the things you expect to see on the trail, and then there are the surprises nature throws your way. An impromptu stop below Headlee Pass led to the latter. While trying to cool down from the stifling humidity, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye - it looked like a chipmunk diving into the rocks. But then it stuck its head back out, and it was no chipmunk. It was as small as a chipmunk, but with a long body and short trail and big ears. I thought it was a juvenile marten, but when we got back to the internet, it turned out it was a stoat or - as it's known in winter - an ermine. Stoats are cold-blooded little killers (even of animals we really like, such as pikas), but they're also playfully curious. Fifteen minutes of cat and mouse ensued, as he looked for ways around us and I tried to snap his photo. Most of them were of him turning to dive back into the rocks, but I caught him once in plain sight. Otherwise, not much to report - trail is snow-free and in fine shape to the outlet from the lake. There's a little snow just before the lake, but no big deal. There is quite a bit of snow on the way to the summit of Vesper Peak, including a steep wall that's best done with crampons or avoided by detouring left over open rock below it. This was another hike in my attempt to rack up 40,000 vertical feet in 10 days in August for Hike-a-Thon to raise funds for WTA. If you're not a member or if you just want to provide additional support, check out my fundraising page here: http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=2791&PID=448714.