Vesper Peak, Headlee Pass and Vesper Lake — Saturday, Aug. 3, 2002

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Started at TH @ 730am, with about 5 cars already there and a couple of car campers off the side of the road on the way to the TH? Anyway, the one bad spot about 10 minutes in has been re-routed, thanks to whomever did this. The trail is great all the way in to Weden Basin, but once you arrive there it is not difficult to lose the trail. Stay Left of the trees and you will be fine, and it is all snow, which is consolidated, and probably not melting off this year as it is leftover avalanche debris. I have already stated this in previous reports, but there was some serious activity up there this year that wiped out an incredible amount of trees! It was raining the entire time we were there, and it was difficult to keep Gore Tex on with the heat we were generating. At one point when we were bushwacking to find the trail through debris we found a spot where 2 large boulders come together that are about 15-20 feet high that had a small cave in the middle. We were happy to dry off in this area, and thrilled to see that there were some great opportunities for bouldering. The rock was just like Exit 38, and Devon had a first ascent on ""Wedenization"" V0. After about 45 minutes of playing in our new area, we headed out towards Headlee Pass. The trail in the upper basin is melted out and in good shape, with Headlee Pass being in fantastic shape. Sidenote: Since my last time up there almost 3 weeks ago, I finally realized today that I took my wife and friend up the wrong pass - even though it seemed like steeper snow, and that the upper portion that was melted out seemed to be like 3rd class heather scrambling, as we walked on an actual trail to the top of the pass, I realized my mistake! Once near the end of the basin go right heading up towards Headlee Pass on the OBVIOUS trail that switchbacks up to the top of the pass. From there it is an easy traverse over a scree path, and up some climbers trails and snowfields towards the summit. For the first time I was able to experience the granite slab scramble to the summit since I have been up there in snow only in the past. Now that was a blast, even though it was snowing up on the summit (In August!) A fun glissade down, and an uneventful descent on the trail made for a good day all in all. We were soaked from head to toe. NOTE: Good luck to anyone who can get the summit register open up there! scott@nwog.org www.nwog.org