This trail was definitely a sneaky surprise. Summit views are out of this world, but getting there was mixed. Starting from the road- the dirt road is generally in fine shape, just a few potholes. Right before the parking lot there's a large rut, where I imagine a sedan would 100% scrape. Was a breeze in my Tacoma but you've been warned.
The trail starts out innocently, but quickly turns into a maze of slippery wet roots for about the first half mile. The mosquitoes also started in this section and were relentless all the way to the summit, especially if stopped. I slipped a few times in this section on the way down. The stream crossings are in this section too and weren't too bad, especially if you don't care about getting your feet wet. After a rain or early in the season I could definitely see how they may be sketchy. Once past this section, the trail becomes pretty overgrown and brushy, but easy to navigate and not super steep. After that section, the trail turns into talus for a while as you make your way up the gully between Sperry and Morning Star. There are some big snowfields on both sides but don't obstruct the trail. Bugs were horrendous in this part.
The trail is less clear in this section and I lost it a couple times, but was pretty easy to regain once you right yourself and identify the entrance to Headlee Pass. Once I reached Headlee Pass the hike became a lot more enjoyable as the views started to open up and Vesper peak/lake came into view. Vesper lake is mostly frozen but has some icy blue spots that were beautiful. From there the route to the peak is essentially a straight line up in the snow. It's quite steep but totally doable with spikes and poles. The summit view is incredible, and gives a very different perspective vs. neighboring peaks like Del Campo and Dickerman. Turquoise Copper Lake was also really cool. I glissaded part of the way down and it was mostly smooth sailing to the car.
Total hiking time- 5.5 hours. For 8 miles and 4K vert, this was pretty slow going (Dickerman has similar mileage and gain and took almost half).
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