Trip Report
Vesper Peak, Headlee Pass and Vesper Lake — Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014
North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway
I didn't make it to Vesper Peak today, I only made it to Headlee pass.
When I leave the house before the crack of dawn to drive to a mountain that I have not climbed before I am more than a bit apprehensive. Delving into the unknown at an hour of the day when most people still lie in their beds makes me feel not only excited about the upcoming adventure, but also somehow isolated from the rest of the world.
This time was no exception - I drove in the dark in the frigid weather of late November along the beautiful Mountain Loop Highway and reached forest road 4065 as the sun came up. The snow on this short, 2.3-mile side road has not been plowed, but luckily there had already been some traffic the day before and tracks were established, nothing the Audi couldn't handle.
I had barely parked at the end of the road when a red Jetta appeared, carrying a party of four from the Seattle Mountaineers, with the same destination as me - Vesper peak. We were the only people on that route for the day.
Around 8am I started following the larger group through the forest, over the creek crossings until we reached the south fork of the Stillaguamish river. This crossing was more difficult; the flow wasn't particularly strong, but the rocks were wet. Eventually everyone managed to get across with the help of crampons.
I kept following the group until we reached the Wirtz basin and started trudging on snowshoes towards Headlee pass on virgin, fresh snow under the spires of Sperry peak glistening in the morning light. This stretch of trail to the pass is on a north-facing talus tucked between Sperry and Morning Star peaks, and it was in the shade the whole time which made this beautiful winter day colder and darker.
I eventually felt guilty about taking advantage of the group's tracks and I joined them to break trail uphill in the foot-deep snow in rotation up the gully that leads to the pass. Eventually, Alex, the girl who seemed to be leading the group, blasted full steam ahead and broke trail all the way to Headlee pass; by that time it didn't really matter, because the pass is so steep that even following tracks in the snow was just as difficult. Eventually I joined her at the top of the pass and the other three followed soon thereafter.
Progress had been slower than we had hoped; it was past noon and it become clear to everyone that another couple of hours - if not even longer, given the soft, unconsolidated snow - to make the summit of Vesper, was just not going to be a good idea, with sunset at 4pm. We merely walked a few hundred feet on the other side of the pass to get a good view of Vesper - and what a view it was! - and then turned around. In truth, we never stood a chance to reach that summit today. I'll be back!
Time to the pass and back: 8:10AM - 3:35PM
Mountain Loop highway - plowed till Barlow Pass
NF-4065 - not groomed but passable
Temperature - mostly in the teens
Trail - from a few inches to 1 foot of snow
Avalanche danger - low; there was about 1 foot of fresh snow and landscape features (talus, small trees) were still visible throughout
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