Found myself with a free Saturday morning and decided to head up to Vesper peak.

Warning: There is a Yellowjacket wasps' nest on the trail, and I got stung on the way up. It's right in the middle of the trail, in the section after you emerge from the forest and hike through an area with tall ferns. As you ascend, there are a few clusters of trees (which make a tempting place to rest in the shade) and the nest is in one of these spots. (Besides that, hardly any bugs -- hence the "no bugs" flag.)

Road Conditions: I managed without much difficulty in my ancient Corolla, although there are a few large potholes to navigate. Arrived at the TH just after 8 am and the (very small) main lot was full already, with roadside parking starting to back up. The road is narrow, especially with people parking on both sides.

Trail Conditions: This trail has many points where it's unclear how to proceed and you need to use your sixth trail sense! Early on, in the forest, there's a big blowdown where it seems you need to cross the stream (it looks like the trail goes straight, but it actually fizzles out). There are many Talus fields to cross, so keep your eyes peeled for rock cairnes! Once at the basin with a lake, after Headlee pass, there are many fantastic camp sites and the final stretch to Vesper peak involves running (or crawling) up some big stone slabs. It took me 2 hours from the TH to the peak.

Highlights: Great views from the top, and a lot of fun scrambling/hopping on rocks.

Crowds: I came across several groups on the way up, many of whom were climbers. There was also a WTA crew working close to the TH, doing some nice rock work. The basin between Vesper and Sperry had several people camping from the previous night and there where about 4 other people at the summit when I got there. All in all, it was a fairly busy day on the slopes.

I've hiked 274.5 miles this year...and Vesper Peak's 8 hurt the worst! Holy Moly, I really should have worn my boots instead of my trail runners because you are on rock 90% of the time. And though I thought I was a "down is better than up" person, this trail proved me wrong. Punishing - that is all I can say. But I love the pain; so thank you Vesper Peak for making me feel it! Story with more info and pics in the link below. 

Ahh, nothing like hiking! Just cruising along watching your random thoughts and daydreams float by with the ever-changing scenery...

THIS IS NOT THE TRAIL FOR THAT EXPERIENCE!

Every inch - up and down - of this trail is earned because it is either rocky, root-ridden, steep, or hard to navigate at any point in time. It demands concentration on every step. Case in point - Garmin calculated that I was “moving” for only 38 minutes on this activity that spanned 7 hours and 23 minutes. An average of 1.1 miles an hour. You will not cover a mile in 20 minutes on this trail*.   

HOWEVER!

This is an epic adventure with lots of variation in scenery as you climb out of the woods, to a fern-laden hillside, up the basin towards Headlee Pass, through the Sperry/Vesper basin, above Lake Elan, onto the granite, and up to the summit. Just remember to stop, pick your head up from where you are placing your feet and look around (not hard to do once above the lake and the air starts getting thin). 

BY THE NUMBERS:

Distance 7.34 miles (The scramble is very direct this year with no snow – I did this 9 years ago and had to get around a larger snow patch)

Elevation Gain 3,953ft

Average Temp: 84.5 F

Time: 6:33 Elapsed 7:23 (good hang at the summit)

3 liters of water consumed + 28oz Gatorade (ran out of liquid 2 miles from end)

2 Energy Gels + 1 Almond Butter Packet + 6 Handfuls Trail Mix + 1 Summit Sandwich

5 Parties encountered (including the rock climbers who arrived at the summit from the north-ish face of Vesper that faces Copper Lake)

115 Pictures Taken

1 Pika Spotted (countless more heard)

WHATABOUT THE ROAD?

I’ll take the 2-mile gravel road over the 10+ mile gravel roads needed to approach other hikes (I’m looking at you, Cascade Pass!). My 2004 Honda Civic handled it fine by driving with two wheels near the center and the others near the edge of the road. One needs to take it slow anyway on this road since it is narrow and oncoming traffic could cause problems. BONUS! When I reached the infamous pothole (.2 miles from the trailhead), I stopped, lined up my tires with the high parts of the hole, put it into 1^st, got over the hole without a bump, and WHOOOSH a (spotted?) owl flew out of the bushes right across my windshield and into the forest. I would not have had that experience if it weren’t for that pothole!    

*OK maybe YOU will if you are in crazy good shape, have incredible balance, and are acclimated to high altitude.

Road to trailhead:

For us driving a Dodge Dart with very low clearance, we did not feel comfortable driving over the last few deep potholes about 1/4 mile from the trailhead. We parked our car on the side of the road before them and thankfully had our friend pull over and drive us the rest of the way. That being said, there were other low clearance cars at the main lot. To each their own. We scraped multiple times coming up the trail head, but there are not many potholes before that huge one.

Trail conditions: 

This hike was intense. As soon as you break our from the trees, you are taking large steps over boulders. It can be difficult at times to follow the trail. Follow the carins. The trail up headlee was rough, a long slog. But not as long as the slog up Vesper lol. Views are fantastic throughout the entire hike. It took us a slow 5 hours to summit. I feel like I've never moved so slow on a hike. The slog up Vesper was difficult because it was getting hot. Would reccomend starting earlier than 6am if possible. Coming down this hike was pretty miserable. It was extremely hot. I ran out of water at the summit. I was glad there were multiple streams to filter from on the way down. It took us 3.5 hours to get down. 

I had this Friday off and decided to take my 12 year old to one of these Mountain Loop Highway classics (scrambles).

Parking & Road: A couple of sections with big potholes on forest rd 4065 but they were not too bad. Last year, I drove a Camry 1993 to Hidden Lake Lookout TH and made it, so I would have no problem to drive a sedan to this TH, although a high clearance vehicle would be better.

We started at 9:30 AM and it was a late start for me but we got the closest parking spot to the trailhead. Parking lot was surprisingly not busy at all.

Trail: We mostly had the trail to ourselves. We encountered only 4 small group of hikers on the way up (but a lot more hikers and backpackers on the way down).

The hike started in a shaded forest but it was short. Views opened up after we crossed the South Fork Stillaguamish River. I had to filter water there as I forgot to fill my water bladder. I also refilled more water at Vesper Creek. Easy rock hopping to cross both creek and river/stream.

Lots of ripe huckleberries just before the first boulder section at around 3400 ft. We ate a few on the way up. 

It was breezy and moody and it was such a good day to go up Headlee Pass so I did not find it difficult. Going down the last section of the pass was a bit difficult with loose rocks and we did not have poles with us.

Routefinding was not too bad. It's a bit tricky on the boulder section before Headlee Pass but like another reviewer said, there was an arrow marked on a big rock. Other than that I was able to see where the the trail was without looking at my GPS.

The scramble to the peak was my favorite part. My 12 year old was a bit intimidated on the way down but eventually got the hang of it. There were cairns as a guide but we picked our own path of least resistance.

Overall, it's a great scramble but It's still tough for my 12 year old. I could see that he was struggling in some sections and it's probably even tougher for younger kids.

We recorded 7.81 mi round trip with a total time of 7:51.