Fun day! Got to TH at 7:30 with two cars in the parking lot. The road was a little washed out but Priusable. Left at 18:00, took 10.5 hours to go up and down.

Approach is was pretty mellow. Immediately some easy stream crossings. Crossing the Stillaguamish was more challenging but there were good rocks to hop. Then the climb opens up to the boulder field as you go up to Headlee. All snow free at this point.

At the bottom of Headlee, some patches of snow began around 3800 feet. Trail is largely melted out, though. We put on mountaineering boots and traction thinking the snow would continue to the summit, but took them off at the top of Headlee since the traversal across the talus field was melted out.

Around Lake Elan after crossing another easy stream, traction back on and it’s a straightforward march up snow to the top. There is a section going through trees where we had to be careful not to punch through the snow, but otherwise was easy.

Socked in summit, then descended down in very plunge steppable snow. We followed the snow line past the lake and ended up farther down the stream which made for a more difficult but manageable crossing. Just keep in mind not to get sucked into skier’s right on the descent.

Then a straightforward descent down Headlee, through the woods, and back to the car. Boulder fields suck for descent! But worth it for a super beautiful day out there!

TL;DR: At least for me, snow conditions are not conducive to a safe ascent through Headlee and unlikely to improve for at least another week due to significant snow warm temperatures.

I'm always a little astounded at how many hikes are done without a trip report at places where a trip report could be extremely helpful. A half dozen people apparently tried this trail yesterday on a Wednesday, and yet the last trip report I can find is over a week ago. Anyway, I digress.

Road is fine for something with a little higher clearance, but for a sedan there's a couple spots in the last ~1/2mi which might either require a lot of finesse or perhaps parking and walking extra mileage. Just some really lumpy spots rather than deep potholes.

There are three water crossings early on. As others have stated, with some skill and probably poles to assist with balance you can keep your feet dry on the first two, but the third one pretty much requires wading through calf-high water flowing reasonably fast.

The trail is mostly snow-free until it gets steep below Headlee pass, but there are a few spots with short snow crossings that will probably last at least a couple more weeks. If you've never been here (and maybe if you have), I'd highly suggest tracking down a solid GPX file for your watch or phone. The route is super easy to lose as you approach the pass. I was really proud of myself for finding a mostly snow-free approach to Headlee before I realized I was going up the wrong chute and had to descend a bit. As I was trying to cross a couple steep areas with snow my whole body broke through the snow and I found myself up to my shoulders. A few minutes later I lost my footing and broke one of of my poles.

I thought my MSR snow shoes would be the best bet for going up the steep chute to Headlee, but the snow was far to sloppy for even their aggressive traction. I was able to make it to maybe 200ft below Headlee on a dirt/rock route, but when I went to put on my microspikes and looked at what I'd have to climb and the run-out below I had second thoughts. Additionally the snow was so soft that I wasn't able to get enough hold from my ice axe to hold even a fraction of my arm strength and no faith I'd be able to self-arrest so I bailed.

I did moved over to a spot with a safe run-out and did a couple short glassades and noted that it was difficult to control my speed with my ice axe.

FWIW, I left the trailhead about 6:45am and the temperature when I arrived was just below 60f. The snow at Headlee was already very soft before 9am and I suspect it probably never firmed up overnight in this warm weather.

Parked at 9:30am - the road was very smooth compared to last year (Last year I had to park .2 miles b4 the TH). 

1 party of 5 dudes had just finished (they started at midnight) and made it to headlee pass.

the dog we brought was super athletic and ran circles around us, except for the 3rd creek crossing.  Dog had to be carried across.  The 1st two crossings we were able to keep our feet dry.  The 3rd crossing we walked straight through with running water up to our knees.  

lots of snow in the basin.  We stayed on trail and were checking the gps every 10 minutes to make sure we were still on track in the hopes we would not make the same mistake as the earlier trip reporters.  

we put on crampons and used ice axes to get up to headlee pass.  We made it about 1/4 mile past the pass (had another 1/4 mile to get to Vesper).  We stopped d/t that dang rock field was 1/2 melted out.  We hated being on that loose rock crap, on a slant, and hated more being on the snow that would post hole to the crap rock.  Also we didn’t want to feel super rushed on the way back (our safety call was for 7pm).  

I was able to walk down from headlee pass - the snow was mushy, but not too mushy.  Sometimes I glissaded for short bursts.  My friend struggled feeling comfortable on the way down.  But we stuck together and hopefully she will be up for this crazy stuff again.    

we made it back to the car at 6:15pm.  

Sunscreen, gps, hiking pole, ice axe, and crampons were a must for us. 

I wear shorts….unless I’m glissading, then I put pants on.  

We decided to get an early start to avoid the snow getting too soft. Arrived at the trailhead at 4:30am.

The road in has some big potholes to navigate. Then there is one section that looked too sketch for the Suburu, so we backed up a bit and found a place to pull off an park. It was only about 0.2 miles to trailhead from there.

The first few river crossings are not bad right now. The big one did take a little work and wet feet.

The snow starts shortly after the valley begins. We were in three-season mountaineering boots the whole way from there. Brought crampons but did not use them. Some postholing but not horrible. The snow is soft enough, it is quite slow going. Farther up the valley there is a tremendous amount of older avalanche debris. The snow here is particularly hard to move on, as it is very chunky and uneven.

We accidentally ascended the gully before Headlee Pass. It was generally fine on the way up--the soft snow made for each kick-stepping. Getting to the top, however, it got a little sketchy, having to do a little scrambling then fighting through the trees to get over the pass.

The next section is not very enjoyable--the soft snow gives way a lot as you traverse the slope, and this is the area you are likely to punch through to the rocks below. Once getting up on the ridge, though, the snow conditions were much better. Snow was soft but decent the rest of the way to the summit, which we gained at 10:00am.

Coming down, the conditions were perfect for plunge stepping. We covered the ground that took 90 minutes to get up in 12 minutes coming down. Literally able to run part of it.

We were then able glissade often, except Headlee--looked too steep to be safe, but snow was agreeable to kicking steps down safely. Lots of good glissading once back down in the valley. Back to the car at 1:30pm for a 9 hour round trip.

Surprise! It's Winter!

I think I was a day late checking out Vesper Peak :) I hiked up 2mi and then had to turn around due to inability to navigate. I read it's scrambly around mile 2 and with the snow coverage I couldn't decipher the trail whatsoever beyond that point.

Other than that, drive there is beautiful! Any car can make it to the trailhead.

Trail is wet and there are water crossings that won't keep your feet dry but, you get soaking wet in the snow & slush further up anyways!