Vesper Peak — Sunday, Jul. 29, 2018

We started from the TH about 8:15 am. Would have been a bit nicer if we started around 7:30. Total time was 7 hours. This hike was worth the effort, but is definitely on the harder side. From the beginning it starts uphill and doesn't stop. We tracked on our GPS 7.5 miles round trip and almost 4,200 ft of elevation gain. Starting out it's nice and shady under a bounty of trees, with 4-5 creek/river crossings (at this point nothing to crazy, few weeks ago might be more difficult). After a good uphill trek in the shade it opens up for an unprotected ridge with waist to shoulder high vegetation. This continues a bit until reaching the beginning of the valley. This is where the fun begins. It's uphill non stop and mostly rock stepping the entire way. In the morning it's shaded by the big cliffs of Sperry and Morningstar, so that helps. Continue on up looking for cairns (however, it's kind of a free for all) that ultimately lead you to the small, distant gap between the peaks. The switchbacks up to Headlee pass are steep (be careful of knocking down rocks on those below). Once to the pass, take a break to catch your breath. Vesper peak looks much further than it really is at this point. The next 600 yards or so to the lake are much less difficult, a little down, some uphill on a scree slope, than all of a sudden the cool air coming off Vesper Lake. Cool off at Vesper creek, catch your breath then continue up (hikers left) the ridge through some alpine trees and vegetation. From this point it's straight up. You can utilize the rock outcrops as guide markers (and respite) from the snow. We didn't have poles or spikes and made it up, however it would have been much easier with them. Note: We only found 1 survey marker at the top and couldn't find a registry anywhere. Does anyone know if this is the case?