2 cars (one from Seattle, one from Bellevue) met up at Woods Coffee in Everett (a bit out of the way). Our car is late because D showed up 15 min late. He's chatty, fun to talk to, claims that he's done 10k' and 11k' in a day. It turned out he was the slowest person of the group. A lot of cars parked along the road near the Sunrise Mine TH.
The trail is well established. Only 2 miles to Headlee Pass, but will take longer than you think.
The zigzag up to the pass is quite eroded.
I scrambled up the rocky top on the right of the pass to take this photo. Waited for the group there.
After crossing the outlet of Vesper Lake (Lake Elan on Caltopo), a clear trail leads up the heather and halfly wooded slope.
Great views already.
Half way up, I scrambled down to a pond checking out the route to Wolf Peak.
Once there, I think it's easy to go to Wolf Peak. But I figured it'll take me an extra 40 minutes. I didn't want to worry anyone or make my group wait, so I just returned to Vesper proper.
Scrambling to Sperry will be more involved. Need to bring at least a helmet.
The summit view never disappoints here, even when it's cloudy like today.
By the time D arrived, 1 hour after I reached the summit, it was clear.
Seems he was having some issue with his stomach.
It's quite relaxing. Such a view, no one was eager to descend anyway.
However, noticeable smoke in high elevation. We can also see the smokey clouds to the northwest.
Coming back is straightforward. Saw 2 pikas chasing each other among the rocks. Cute. D and I filtered some water at the lake outlet. I actually forgot to put my water bottle in my pack! Back at the car at 5pm, way past the estimated return. The event host today also lives in downtown, so he dropped me off near his building. It's less than 10 min walk.
