June 12, 2003, Vesper Peak

Decided on Vesper for the morning today. Made the end of Sunrise Mt. Road at 6:00am. Found steady snow a few hundred vertical feet below Headlee Pass. The climb to the pass is steep, but in the soft snow no problem. If the snow is hard, an ice axe would probably be of some comfort....Anyway, reached hiked over the pass, and up the snowfield to Vesper's summit. Made the summit at 9:15. A nice steady climb, lots of vertical gain but not too much distance. About 2200' in two miles to Headlee Pass from the TH. And another 1700' to the summit from the pass in about 1 mi. Awesome scene from the summit today with the entire Puget Sound basin buried beneath low clouds, and the entire Olympic Range poking above in the distance. To the North, South and East, all the Cascades in crystal clear skies. Skied down to the lakes in the basin between Vesper and Sperry peaks, snow was starting to get just a bit mushy, but quality is still good. Had to take the skis off for just about a hundred yards on the traverse back to Headlee pass. Skied down from the pass until the snow ended. Still a good trip, but with warming temps, the snow on the East side of Vesper is getting really soft. But, there is still lots of it.
Ross