Forest road is short and while had some potholes, could make it fine going slow in my sedan.

Bugs were around, but 25% deet spray kept most at bay.

The third creek crossing previous reports warn about indeed was the deepest and fast flowing, both in the morning and afternoon. I just put on water shoes and waded through, water reaching right above knee deep. Reached the third creek crossing about 30 minutes in, so if you want to save time and want to definitely save your shoes from getting wet early on in the hike, can just start with hiking in water shoes/sandals/Chackos/etc till you pass the third creek. With a pole to brace myself, wasn’t that bad to go through and it’s a short distance, but very cold so be fast before get too numb. I’ve heard from other hikers if you really wanted, can find a drier path to walk through if you walk upwards from where the trail crosses.

Trail overall was scraggly, rocky, and rooty until get to snow. Definitely not manicured and could be hard to follow in some rocky sections. Made a mistake going “left” when I should’ve gone “right” towards Headlee Pass. The Pass has very short switchbacks and is steep and crumbly.

When reaching a stream that is the outlet of Vesper Lake (clean and fast moving drinking water source, a fine destination in of itself if you don’t want to go up to Vesper Peak), I followed some tracks in initially that led me closer to the lake, but it’s not what my AllTrails map and GPS was guiding, so doubled back to where the stream outlet was, crossed over, and ascended a little rib. Eventually will hit a patch of trees (I point it out in my pictures below) where it was difficult for me to find the trail. It wasn’t obvious, but it’s there. If you’re muscling too much through trees, you’re probably off. There looks to be another route to the right completely bypassing the tree patch I think some people took.

Snow all the way up to the base of the summit from Vesper Lake, of which the actual summit is snow free. Views are great.

Snow was mushy and soft, especially with the heat wave the PNW was experiencing (90+ degrees F in major cities). I wore microspikes which I “think” kinda helped, but not really. Had to scuff and kick in the snow to really get traction. Had my ice ax out as a just in case. Did not glissade down as wasn’t too comfortable with some very steep pitches up, but I think some people did. I just heel plunge stepped down.

Start: 825 AM

Headlee Pass top: 1050 AM

Vesper Peak: 100 PM

End: 420 PM

- I probably wasted an hour being lost and double backing at some points.

7/8/24
Pretty great trail conditions. A few river crossings in the first mile, there were enough logs and rocks that I didn't get my shoes wet. A lot of the trail is shaded with trees, which was nice on such a hot day. Pretty much snow free until you get to the base of Vesper near Lake Elan. Then the last roughly .85 miles is mostly snow travel until you make it to the ridgeline at the top. Stick to the main tracks for the least risky option. I definitely suggest a helmet, microspikes or crampons, and an ice axe if you want to meditate some risk.

I hiked Vesper Peak this morning for the first time. I started about 5:45am and was, surprisingly, not the first on the trail. The 3 water crossings are all in the first mile or so and were a bit of a balancing act, but not too sketchy. Water level seemed similar on the way back.

For those who haven't done this trail before, I definitely suggest using a GPS map, ideally with a known-good GPX track. It gets so rocky below Headlee pass that keeping on the trail is tough.The area right below the pass still had some snow on the trail which was a little sketchy for me and others I passed on my way down, but not too bad. You hit snow at the lake, which is still frozen over, and it's pretty much snow from there until right below the summit. The lake/creek is your last good water source before the summit.

The snow was soft today, but I wore microspikes and they seemed to help. Having an ice axe also made me feel a bit more confident on the steeper snow sections, but I'm sure I could've made it up with poles.

I made it up to the summit in just under 3 hours, but that seemed like a very quick ascent compared to the other parties I'd started around. It was also a bit earlier than the people camped near the summit had apparently expected visitors...

I was worried a few days of low winds and fireworks smoke would impede the views, but they were spectacular. Baker, GP, Rainier, and Adams were all visible with only Saint Helens missing the Volcano party.

Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finch and Horned Lark were nice to see and a singing Ruby-Crowned Kinglet becomes one of the only July records for this species in the county.

I left Edmonds near 9:30, and started on the trail at about 10:00. I half kept track of my times, so here are some averages. It took me 4 1/2 hours to get to Vesper Lake. My return was Under 2 1/2 hours. It was a long day and i don't hike a lot, so my legs were spent, and I took my time.

The trail was very nice and clear up until the switchback shoot, prob 2 miles up the hike. The trail first starts covered in trees. You'll pass x3 streams and do some minor rock jumping to get past them. There are normal trial roots, and some trees in the way to climb over. After the tree's you enter an open field of shrubs that heads up into another small tree patch. After the tree patch the rest of the climb is over a rocky open valley till you reach the heavy steep switchback shoot. The shoot was snow packed and I wasn't able to use all of the switchbacks. I had to scramble up the right side for half of the shoot. Once at the top you've reached headley pass and continue on toward Vesper Lake, and Peak. Its prob half a mile to the Lake in open rocky almost shale like minor ascent to the lake. There was no snowpacks or any type of snow up until you get to the lake. Once at the lake its heavy snow almost everywhere, all up until the top. I only made it to the lake but could see heavy snow at Vesper Peak. The lake was frozen over, almost 95%.

Started out about 8:30am, and turned out to be much warmer than the forecast! Creek crossings weren't bad, the third one has two options, a larger log or set of smaller ones. I found the smaller ones easier.

A few snow patches approaching the top of Headlee Pass, and then continuous snow starting after the subsequent traverse (around 5000') Snow was annoyingly soft. I used microspikes and an axe, but steps were easy enough to kick so just the axe would've been fine. Glissaded back down the top which was the best part of the day!