We set out to follow the trip description from Goldman's "75 scrambles" which described an uncomplicated class 2 ramble up Sperry, followed by a traverse over to Vesper. The description may be okay, but it is supplemented by a route drawn on a map which is completely wrong and misleading. For information on climbing Sperry, I'd say look at Beckey, and also this description http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7987423 . I'd also say doing Sperry and Vesper in one day would have likely taken us more than the allotted 10 hours. Anyway, we started at 8:30 on a dark forest trail. Huge trees, waterfalls, mushrooms, an easy crossing of the Stillaguamish on a make-shift bridge, then we broke out into the open. The fall color is going nicely. The hike up to Headlee pass was on good trail, although we managed to lose it once by following misleading cairns, and a second time following a stream gully. There were a few inches of snow on the trail in the morning near Headlee pass, which had melted by the afternoon. We traversed the big rockslide, which was slippery with snow in the morning, mostly dry by the return. We then looked for a way up the intimidating looking Sperry. The rockslide at its skirt was covered by between 6 inches and several feet of snow, making for tricky slippery hiking with postholing. The book said to head for the west shoulder, using trees as handholds. The west shoulder seemed to be guarded by a skirt of snowy cliffs, so instead we attacked the only route we could see going anywhere and headed up a gully ending at a deep notch. The gully turned into a 45 degree slope of with 6 inches of crusty snow covering heather. We got out our ice axes and kicked steps up it to the notch, where we found that to continue up the ridge would require a 4th class scramble on steep exposed rock--too scary for us. Instead we had to downclimb our steps, toes in, very carefully. We then sat around on a dry rock in the warm sun for a while, gazing at Sperry and Vesper, contemplating our options and eating lunch. A guy climbed up to us who had been following our steps, and we broke the bad news to him that they led to a dead end unless you are willing to do somewhat exposed and tricky climbing. He went off to seek another route. Our experience on the snow covered boulder field led us to overestimate the difficulty of Vesper, but we finally worked up enough energy to try it--and easily followed someone's snowshoe tracks to the summit. We encountered only a minor amount of postholing. No ice axe needed for Vesper, but poles were very useful. Snowshoes would make some parts easier and some harder. An ice axe would be needed for Headlee pass if snowy. The summit of Vesper was exhilarating and totally made up for the frustrations of the earlier part of the day. The view is completely overwhelming with seemingly most of the major peaks of the state in view. We gasped and recoiled from the view down the north face to the glacier. trip totals: 9.5 hours, 10.5 miles, 4500' feet.

It was a great day for Phlemy and me! The road to the trailhead is in very good condition, but that's where all maintenance ends. The trail is in the usual poor shape, but that just helps to keep the riff raff out! The stream crossing is fine since someone built a little bridge between two boulders and it's quite solid if a little airy. Still, five steps and you're done. We encountered a bee's nest at about 1/2 mile in the middle of the trail and I was the lucky one who got nailed, but a benadryl fixed me up just fine and I can hardly tell I was zapped. It's the usual rough and rugged trail to Headlee Pass and beyond, but all snow is gone until you reach Lake Elan which is still almost completely frozen. Still, it needs to be said that this trail was so much rougher and more difficult to stay on 20 years ago and lots of boots have improved it a lot. We remained in the clouds until Headlee Pass when the skies opened up and became clear and gorgeous. Perfect timing! The first bit of the route from the Lake and the campsites were snow free, but the steeper slopes below the summit were snow covered and a bit hard today so we stuck to the rocks on the north side rather than my usual route and it worked out just fine. We saw only one other party of two people on the mountain which was very unusual for Vesper. It could only be because of the unfavorable weather forecast which turned out to be inaccurate. We had a fine lunch on the summit with views of the peaks of Del Campo, Sperry, Pilchuck, Big Four and others nestled in a sea of clouds. If only I hadn't stupidly forgotten my camera! No pix today. Also, no bugs at all until the trip down when we were attacked by flies, but it hardly seemed fair to complain after such a nice trip that far. We made a quick stop at the newly remodeled Green Gables in Verlot to buy a soda. They've really worked hard at making a cute and funky little grill here and even though we were in a hurry to get going, I plan to stop sometime soon for a burger. It's great to see the old place still running and trying something new.

This was a great hike with amazing views of surrounding peaks but don't underestimate it's difficulty. Just getting to Headlee Pass is an undertaking. The dry creek bed, be very careful crossing, just after the 3rd Waterfall on the narrow foot bridge. There's a narrow trail just after this that is on the curved side of a dirt hill that is giving way...someone in a different hiking party fell into the gorge and hit their head with a rock, going to the hospital, so be careful. There were a couple patches of snow on the way to Headlee Pass that we had to be careful on when hiking this on 7/20/2013...but these are probably melted by now. Solid snow all the way on trail before reaching Vesper Lake. Vesper Peak should only be attempted with ice axes, crampons, and/or spikes. Steep but beautiful hike to Headlee Pass.

Left TH about 6:50am enroute to Vesper Peak via Headlee Pass. It wound up pretty cloudy, but we got a few sunbreaks up until 11am. The two stream crossings before breaking out of the woods were very slippery in places. Very doable, but use caution. Trail was easy to follow on the way up to headlee pass, we were the first up that day but had tracks from a day or two prior. After the pass loose powder over some of the boulderfields was a little trickier. No previous tracks and hard to tell where to put your feet so that they wouldn't break through or slip. After gaining the ridge on the way up to Vesper there was probably 5 to 7 inches fresh, dry, unconsolidated snow. Not bad over the heather and through the trees, for the last 500' or so it was over smooth granite and ice in places which made for treacherous going. Folks were doing it in boots and/or other traction but crampons are highly recommended, especially on the way down. On the descent it started snowing heavily making the trail back to the cars difficult to discern in places. We were the first down, and the tracks from the morning were completely gone. Back at the cars there was almost 3 inches of new snow (there was none when we left). When we drove out the snow went about a mile back down the sunrise mine road, Mountain Loop Highway was clear. Full Narrative, GPS Track, and Photos: http://pnwanderer.com/?pnw_picture-post=vesper-peak-trip-repot-11102012