MOUNT DEFIANCE
WHERE: From Portland take I 84 to The Mount Defiance/Starvation Ridge parking area approximately ten miles after Cascade Locks.
THE TRAIL: If anyone reading this has ever wrestled, this trail will make you feel like you are in the middle of trying to lose 5 pounds in 3 hours to make weight. Yeah this trail kinda feels like hell but it will feel like heaven the second you arrive at the unsightly antenna farm. I know that seems like a contradiction! True the antenna farm is a bit of a distraction but it gets ignored pretty easily with the beautiful views of the Columbia River Gorge, the Hood river valley, Mt. Hood, the Columbia Wilderness, the Washington Cascades and the Mount Hood Wilderness areas.
The trail starts with about 1.5 miles of relatively flat terrain just to make the rest of the trail that much steeper. Basically you do about 4500 feet of elevation gain in the next 4 miles. Mile 1.5-3.0 and 3.5-5.0 are the most difficult stretches. It is straight up with a couple of little breaks: The flats sections, which are the rest periods, are welcoming but because they exist the rest of the trail is even steeper. Since I climbed the trail in early May 2002 the snow level was at 3200 feet. I did not have snow shoes yet so I was a little nervous about "summiting". Fortunately there were flags on trees to mark the trail leading up to an opening of lava rocks. I lost the flags at some point but I noticed they were there on the way down. Perhaps I was following an alternate trail going up. From the lava rocks you can see the top and there are some magnificent views of the gorge and the mouth of Hood river. I stopped at the rocks to take a little video and then saw some prepared folks with snowshoes below. I approached, chatted with, and followed these folks up the snow covered rocky slopes to where the trees begin again at about 4500 feet. There is an opening in the trees which you can follow to an old road that winds up the last portion of the hike. The trail may be slightly different in summer veering off from the road but winter conditions definitely made this path more appropriate. Bring a lunch and your favorite beverage to enjoy while soaking in the view that your hard work provided.
I did this hike again on May 7, 2008. The snow was constant from about 2600 feet on up to the top (it was a record breaking year for snowfall in the Oregon Cascades). About an hour into the hike I passed a gentleman going down. He said he went to the top via the Starvation creek loop. When I told him I was hoping to reach the top he said I wouldn't make it unless I planned to stay overnight. He also said the trail was hard to follow from 2800-4000 (he said it was hard for him to follow and he has been up the trail 50 times). I did leave late and had doubts myself considering how much the snow slows you down and having to trudge up some steep slopes in snowshoes. I made it up about 3 hours and 40 minutes after leaving the trailhead. Near the boulder fields at about 4200 feet I felt like the wind was going to knock me off my feet as you are at the pinnacle of the Ridge and a steep downslope beneath with no trees for shelter. I actually got a bit windburned and visibility was pretty low also (about 150 feet). Fortunately on the way down things cleared up enough for some good pictures.
