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The trail to Vesper Peak is a short but difficult hike off the Mountain Loop Highway. Technically the trail is actually called the Sunrise Mine Trail but if there is a mine in the area I don’t know where it might be. In any case, Vesper Peak is the reward for an exhausting hike. In my opinion, of all the easily obtainable peaks of the Mountain Loop Highway, Vesper has the most spectacular views but you work for the privilege of seeing them.
From the trailhead to Vesper Peak and back is only about 7.5 miles round trip but there is over 4,250 feet of elevation gain in that short distance, and it’s not easy elevation gain. The lower portion is in the woods and the steep trail mainly consists of roots, which in some ways might make it easier since the roots give you something to use as steps. Once you climb for a mile or so you break out into open talus slopes, the lower portion of which is covered with tall ferns and vine maple and then the trail transitions to just open rock slopes. The trail is well defined in the ferns, in fact you can’t get off trail because it would be almost impossible to fight your way through the underbrush, but once you get to the open rock faces it’s easy to lose the trail if you’re not careful. The greater danger though is twisting an ankle since the rocks range from multiple feet across to just a couple of inches.
Assuming you stay on trail you’ll eventually hike into a narrow chute that gets progressively tighter until you’re flipping back and forth up switchbacks every 30 or 40 feet. This leads to a gap, Headlee pass, which is a nice little break from the constant climbing. It’s a short-lived reprieve though because after traversing horizontally across another talus slope and passing by a cute little lake (Lake Elan) you get the real headlining climb, a choose-your-own-adventure straight up the granite face of Vesper Peak to the top. There is no trail here, you just find a good route and go for it.
That’s all probably a bit melodramatic but the bottom line is that when you get done with this little hike you truly feel like you’ve accomplished something. My friend, Brandon, and I did the hike in about 5 1/2 hours with 30 minutes of that being on top of the peak. We’re both in decent shape and rarely stopped for breaks and still only averaged 1 1/2 miles per hour.
The thing is we are slackers compared to other hikers. As we were coming down we ran into another guy with a thick European accent (I’ve come to think all Europeans are crazy climbers) who was going to do Vesper and then also do two other peaks, Wolf and Sperry. All three are probably within a 1/2 mile of each other as the crow flies, but even though Vesper is the highest peak by a few hundred feet, the other two are far more technical in nature. All three are connected by rock saddles so I guess if you’re going to do them it makes sense to do them all together but frankly to me both Sperry and Wolf look terrifying. Maybe someday….
This is a hike that practically requires a sunny day, in fact I’d say it would be downright treacherous in the rain, but on a nice weekend day the trailhead fills quickly. On the Thursday Brandon and I hiked it there were maybe five other cars when we started and ten by the time we got back but I think we only saw four or five parties along the way. We saw a tent at the lake and our lunatic friend with the accent but for the most part we had the mountain to ourselves. We both agreed we’ll do it again at some point. All photos can be found here.
