Gothic Basin — Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2005

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Although I was going to head up the Mountain Loop Highway anyway, I decided to lend some ""poor man's support"" to the search and rescue of the two missing hikers on Vesper Peak. Of course, the search area itself was taped off at the Headlee Pass/Sunrise Mine road. So on I went to Gothic Basin and Del Campo Peak. As I passed the Headlee Pass road, I stopped and asked the Sheriff if they'd found the two guys that morning. They said no, to which I was quite disappointed. That's two nights missing. Not good. Anyway, there were very few cars at Barlow Pass, and I set off at about 10:45am hoping for a great summit day. I was armed with binoculars with the hopes of catching any color or movement in the Vesper Peak area that might assist with the search. The Monte Cristo road and the first bridge crossing of the South Sauk about 1 mile upriver looks to be in good shape. I love bridges. It was a glorious day on the east. Sunny and spectacular views of the Monte Cristo group as well as Sloan Peak, Mt. Pugh and Glacier Peak. However, it fogged up and became cloudy on the west. It seems like that always happens when I'm on Del Campo. Third time up the peak, fogged in from the west each time! Gothic Basin is snow free, as were the 5 major gullies on the Weden Creek trail. Foggy Lake is open and BLUE save for a thin strip of ice on its eastern edge. Saw one person coming down from a multi-day excursion in the area. The center snowfield leading up to the notch is in fine shape...soft snow. The summit seemed to form a barrier between clouds floating in from the west and sunnier skies to the east, so I could barely see Dickerman, Jumbo Peak and occasionally Big 4, but nothing in the area of Vesper Peak. The good news was that I heard helicopter noises around 11:45am and 1:30pm. Perhaps the guys were getting picked up? Or was the search continuing? As we know by now, it turned out to be VERY good news. The hikers had lost their way down Vesper Peak in the Tuesday thunder and lightning storm and didn't have a map. They were discovered on the NORTH side of Headlee Pass near Spada Lake midday. All's well that end's well, I suppose! The lesson? Climb Del Campo when there are NO CLOUDS in sight! Oh, and check weather reports and bring a map on all expeditions. Out.