Vesper Peak — Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

Fantastic blue bird day up to Vesper Peak, with spring like conditions. This is still a viable mountaineering hike while the Mtn Loop road is open and the weather holds. Once the next precip event happens, I expect it will be done. Thanks to the men and women before us who broke trail in the snow! This is a super hard endeavor given the low mileage, so buyer beware. 

Road to TH is in good shape, 3 spots with deeper potholes, but any vehicle can make it - a Tesla Model 3 was up there when we arrived, along with a pickup. We were the only ones all day and only 2 groups of 2 went to the summit.  Unlike the previous TR indicated, the toilet was open. Biggest driving risk of the day was ice on the Mtn Loop highway in spots where the frost took hold. Be careful around those corners!

The biggest risk on the trail right now is the ice, hard snow and frozen ground. It's all very slippery, especially on those rocks and roots in the first 1.5 miles of trail. We managed OK for the most part with my partner slipping a few times but no serious damage. I on the other hand, slipped on a stump crossing the 2nd creek from the TH on the way back down and face planted into the water. Luckily, doesn't seem like any serious injuries (edit: morning after, could be a fractured wrist). Despite that, creek crossings are easily doable. Snow starts in earnest up in the valley, but luckily there's enough coverage in the boulders that it's not too hard to avoid major postholes. We put microspikes on part way up and that made travel easier for a bit, but I had a ton of snow clumping and I ended up ditching them for the day once up at Headlee Pass. The couloir up to Headlee is in decent shape. In some places lower down, the only track is straight up so that's what we did. I tried to use as many of the switchbacks as possible on the way back down. Once up past the lake, the steps thin out but still useful. Lots of places where you're going in up to your knees. On this blue sky day, the track was clear all the way to the summit. Gorgeous views all around today. We spent 30 mins on summit having lunch and drinks and taking in the views. As we were heading down, the other party was just about at the summit - I have some pics if you are reading this, just comment. 

Stats: 7.2 miles, 4280' gain, 6:40 total time, 1:15 stopped time. Mileage is slightly shorter than summer since lots of the track goes' straight up, no switchbacks. 

Gear: Mountaineering boots for warmth and kicking steps, gaiters, microspikes, poles, used ice axes up the couloir probably not 100% required, brought crampons never used. Sunglasses and sunscreen with all the snow up high. 

GPX: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2387715