Trail is in good condition. One way trip 3:05 descent 2:10 Beautiful day, blue skies and no winds. Found out that the exact mileage to the top of Headlee Pass is 2.6 miles, and not 2.0 like the sign says at the TH. Lake Elan is still frozen over, and there is little snow near Vesper, just a few spots to glissade. Incredible vistas as always. Headlee Pass was in good shape as well. Navigation through the avalanche debris is the only problem, just follow the trail on the left side of the trees in Weden Basin, and then follow the dirt/snowline on the right of the basin towards the cairns on the trail to Headlee Pass. www.nwog.org

The seven of us arrived at the Sunrise Mine trailhead (2,400 ft.) at 8:20 AM, greeted by a variety of bugs and cloudy skies. In ten minutes we were hiking generally southwesterly on the well-traveled rocky and rooty trail 707, across the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River and up into the glacier carved valley below Headlee Pass. A tremendous avalanche has occurred here, filling most of the upper end of the valley with well-packed snow and forest debris. The trees still standing have had their branches stripped away on the side that faced the onslaught. Few, if any trees were left standing straight and unbroken. It is doubtful if this snowfield will completely melt out this year. We tried to pass the debris field to the right on the northwest upper side, but soon found the going slow over increasingly steep talus and scree. So we fought our way across the avalanche debris field to the open sun cupped snowfield on the southeast side, where we continued toward the end of the valley. Low clouds obscured the surrounding ridges and peaks, hiding the visual clues needed to help keep track of exactly where we were, and where the trail left the snow field at the west end of the valley. Occasional patches of fog further extended the challenge. A cold breeze flowed directly at us from our direction of travel for 10 – 15 minutes or so, long enough for a few of us to don further weather protection. Then as quick as it started, the cold breeze warmed up 10 degrees or so giving cause to stop briefly to apply anti-fog to glasses. From near the end of the valley, a few members of the party chose to go up a snow slope upward toward a pass that turned out to be the wrong one. The slowly passing low clouds and fog did little to help our cause. Some of us continued a bit more toward the west wall of the valley. Two headed up the snow slope at the end. We kept within voice distance and compared notes. As we found the trail, the clouds parted long enough for the true Headlee Pass and its trail to become visible. Upon completing the switch backs up the trail to Headlee Pass at 4,600 feet, we took a break. Morning Star Peak occasionally showed through the passing clouds. More bugs shortened our stay. We traversed around the south side of Sperry Peak on a well-traveled trail with stretches of talus and scree toward Vesper Creek. Back onto snow, we headed toward the small snow covered cirque between Sperry and Vesper Peaks called Lake Elan by at least one locally famous mountaineer. The sun broke through the clouds with dazzling brightness, and with it, out came our sunglasses. We passed to the right around the east side of Lake Elan at 5,000 feet, leaving the snow for the rock slabs on the south facing slope and scrambled upward to gain the 5,400 feet ridge. From this point last year, a different group of us went east toward Sperry Peak. This year though, our destination called for us to go west. So we traversed on steep slab and snow with ice axes beneath a 5,800 feet knob, then headed southwest for the ridge between the knob and Vesper Peak. We dropped down to the ridge and crossed over onto Vesper’s east face. Angling upward, we continued southwest on mostly snow to a snow covered ridge at 6,040 feet about 0.1 mile south of the summit. We scrambled north along the talus ridge to reach the 6,214 feet summit of Vesper Peak at 2:00 PM. We shared the popular summit with a couple of other groups, enjoyed lunch, and signed in on the unofficial / informal summit register. When the clouds permitted we had views of Copper Lake to the northwest and Sperry Peak toward the east. We left Vesper Peak at 2:45 PM. Having enjoyed the challenge of the more tortuous scenic route on the way up, we opted for the easier shortcut route on the way back. From the ridge at 6,040 feet we glissaded, plunge-stepped, and otherwise followed a snow-covered ridge southeasterly to a path leading to a crossing of Vesper Creek. At this point we were back on the trail we had come in on. Without any fog or low clouds on the way out, the snowfield surrounding most of the avalanche debris field in the valley was easily followed. At 6:00 PM, we were back at the trailhead. Four of us chose to bask in the glory of another successful alpine scramble during the drive back to civilization over dinner at the Mountain View Inn on the Mountain Loop Highway. This was an adventurous day in the mountains with great people, some bugs, and no rain. RocknSnowRick

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

Four of us went off to do Sperry and Vesper in one day. Having previously done this I knew it would be a long day but quite doable. So myself, Ira, joined up with Paul, Fred and Steffan. Paul is 40 this year so in honor of this momentous occasion he has decided to summit 40 peaks. We left the Sunrise Mine trailhead at 10:15 (not exactly an early start) but early enough. The major stream crossing went fairly smoothly but the main log over the water has been turned sideways so the flattened section is not walkable. This makes it a bit more challenging but not too much of a problem. The trail then gets steep and stays that way. Eventually you get into the big valley leading up to Headlee Pass. It's currently covered in snow from avalanches. The power of an avalanche is very apparent here as there are many 1 1/2 foot diameter trees that have been snapped off and dozens of smaller trees that are bent over with their limbs torn off. Pretty impressive! It's easiest at this time to leave the trail and head straight up the snow. When you are most of the way up the valley you head off right to join the trail up in the rocks. This will take you up to the Headlee Pass chute. There is no snow in the chute at this time. Crampons are therefore not necessary for the pass or for vesper and sperry. However, you will need an ice axe if doing Vesper. We got to the top of the pass about 2 hrs from the trailhead, 2 1/2 miles, 2500 ft gain. Not too bad considering we were in a cloud the entire time making it difficult to find the trail and the pass. Some lunch at the pass and we continued on the trail to the stream. At this point you have to make a decision to do Sperry or Vesper. If Vesper, you just cross over the stream and head up the trail and snow to the summit. If Sperry, which is what we did, you head off to the right, up the valley on snow passing the lake on the right hand side. The easiest route is to go all the way to the end of the valley and work your way up rock to the low point on the ridge. We decided to make it a bit more interesting by heading up slightly before the end of the valley and scramble up the rock slabs to the ridge. This is a class 3 scramble. Once on the ridge top we followed the trail up to a snowfield. There we headed straight up the snowfield to the rock ridge above us. We found a boottrack that seemed like a good option for continuing so we followed it. There are numerous boottracks on the rock but if you can follow the trailmarkers that appears to be the best route to the summit. We summited 4 hrs from the trailhead. As for views, they would have been great if we could see anything but we were in a cloud and could see absolutely nothing. We then discussed whether we should do vesper or not. We were split on this idea but eventually went along with Paul (since he was calling us wimps) as he really wanted to bag #30, Sperry being #29. There are two ways of going to Vesper from here. Both involve dropping down to the low point on the ridge. One is to ascend the adjoining ridge to Vesper. It's still snow covered and not being sure exactly how steep the snow was we passed on this route as the run out is a long drop over a cliff. Instead we dropped back down to the lake, went around on the right side and up one of the snow gulleys. These are rather steep and an ice axe is absolutely mandatory here. A fall would not be pleasant and self arrest is questionable. These can be avoided by going further down the valley near where the trail crosses the creek. Once above the gulley we climbed on snow, occasional steep trail, and more snow until we reached the summit rock. The summit rock is very easy to get up. There we had the same wonderful views we had on Sperry - clouds. A nice break there among the warm rocks and we glissaded down to the stream, with some trail walking interspersed. Up to the pass and back to the car at 7:30. About 10 miles, 5200 ft of elevation gain. A nice two peak day with a combination of snow climbing and rock scrambling.

Second time up this route. Getting here is easy - follow the mtn loop highway just passed the Mt Dickerman trail and there is a sign that warns you there is a trail on the right some yards before the turnoff. The trailhead parking is not a lot, so oyu need to turnaround and park on the side somewhat like the Perry Creek trailhead. It was raining already, and we left the trailhead at 850am. The first portion of this trail is muddy, rooty, and downright unpleasant when in it's worst condition. A few boulder hops, and a few stream crossings and your through the worst of it, well maybe. After coming out of the trees you ascend switchbacks that have been cut up beyond belief along the side of the trail. I think it was Devils Club before, and it was not that bad in May, but they seem to have cut it back to the roots for several feet back from the trail leaving a really ugly appearance. So just close your eyes and move forward to the top of the basin. At this point we experienced some fluffy snowfall at about 3500'. Folllow the cairns closely once you get into the talus and scree areas. We then started to ascend Headlee Pass. Never has been my favorite, and there was about 1 foot of snow on the ground to make it interesting. There were still switchbacks, so using an ice axe and ascending straight up was not necessary. Once at the pass the winds were blowing hard and the snow was blowing sideways. I thought about turning back since we were wet and cold, but my friend Tom wanted to push on. We traversed the scree field that was covered in snow towards a small patch of trees and that is the only marker for the trail as there are no cairns that I oculd see. Visibility was still about 50 feet, like the whole trip so we pushed forward. Once we reached the outlet stream from Lake Elan we crossed it and ascended the ridge towards the summit. The conditions were worsening and the snow was bad. It consisted of 3-6 inches of powder with pure ice below it. For some reason it took us too long to put on our crampons and we suffered the whole way up. It wasn't until about 5 minutes below the summit that we put the crampons on in real bad weather, and we were determined to make the summit. A few minutes later of intense work we touched the summit and went back down. The snow was in such bad condition for climbing it made it real hard, since there was enough snow to cushion the spikes of your crampons you would slide once in awhile, but w/o them you would slide the whole way on a snow raft. As we descended toward Headlee Pass on the traverse the wind was howling and I could not feel my left fingers. As soon as we dropped down on Headlee Pass the wind stopped and we got feeling back in some of our extremeties. The rest of the trip down was uneventful, but tiresome. I do not believe the mileage for this hike, as the trailhead says 2 miles to Headlee Pass, when it should be about 2.5 to 3 miles. From there I guess it to be about 2.5. So the RT that I have read elsewhere says 10 miles to Vesper should be more like 12-13. scott@nwog.org