Headlee Pass and Vesper Lake

Another incredible day in the Pacific Northwest. Hard to believe it is the last week in October and the weather in the mountains continues to be spectacular. Bright sunshine, temps in the 50s, and clear blue skies greeted me when I arrived at the trailhead this morning. Not a soul in sight as I started out. A chipmunk greeted me almost as soon as I hit the trail. Although the trail is well marked, it is rooty and rocky. This trail could easily be called the rock and roll trail: slip on a rock and roll an ankle or unleash a minor rockslide with one misstep. Either way, it makes for some slow going. Ironically, the slowed pace gave me time to watch some birds up close and personal, not to mention a small owl hiding in a tree. He was not the least bit fazed by my presence and allowed me to get within five feet of him so I could take his photo (I got the impression he was posing for me, making sure I captured his best side). On the final push to Headlee Pass could not resist doing a little rock climbing. I felt like a little kid again ("look, ma, no hands"). From the pass I headed up to the lake which was actually covered with a thin layer of ice. While filling a water bottle in preparation of scrambling up Vesper a fairly significant amount of rocks began tumbling down. This lasted a while, so Vesper was postponed. Decided to take a quick nap in the sunshine atop a rock in Vesper Creek but I was too comfortable because when I awoke the sun had shifted position rather significantly so, after a bit of rock climbing, I headed back whence I came. Nary a soul did I encounter but the birds were still around. Does not get much better than this.