Mt Defiance

Every hike is a little bit different. Some have panoramic views of mountains, lakes, and valleys. Others offer the serenity and isolation from everyday civilization. For this one, just let the pictures do the talking...

Date: Saturday, September 8, 2007
Destination: Mt. Defiance summit, 5,584 ft, highest point in Columbia Gorge

We began our day at the Starvation Creek trailhead, which sits neatly alongside Interstate 84 about an hour east of Portland. Our goal was to hike up the Mt. Defiance Trail to the summit, then return via Warren Lake and the Starvation Creek trail.

The trail began by backtracking and following the interstate for about 1/4 mile to an area anchored by several beautiful waterfalls. According to my hiking book, Hole-in-the-Wall Falls (see on left) was created when ODOT diverted Warren Creek through a tunnel in an adjacent cliff. There's also a cool little tree shaped like a wishbone that is quite fun to sit on and take silly pictures.

About 1/2 mile further along the Mt Defiance trail is Lancaster Falls, which actually runs into the trail's path. Its fan-like shape reminded me of Sahalie Falls along the McKenzie Highway, but with less greenery. While I was attempting to take a photo, an excited dog ran up the trail and startled me! Not too far past this pretty little stretch of waterfalls, the trail steepens as it climbs the ridge along the Columbia Gorge. Views of the river below were pretty awesome on this clear day.


After about 2.5 miles of unrelenting switchbacks, a short spur from the trail leads to a small viewpoint. I am not sure what the peak is immediately across the river, but it provided for some great shots. If you look carefully, Mt St. Helens can be seen in the distance. Switchbacks continue for 2 miles or so up the ridge before emerging onto the shoulder of a talus slope. From left to right, views here include Mt St. Helens, a distant Mt Rainier, and a slightly obscured view of Mt Adams. It was a nice change from the dense forest earlier.


Falls colors were already settling in as we passed a huge talus field about 1 mile from the summit (less than 1/4 mile before the summit trail cutoff). The microwave towers on the summit were clearly visible from this point. Here, the Gorge view extended from Hood River to The Dalles in the east.

Somewhat anti-climatic, the summit was anchored by a couple of small utility buildings, microwave towers, and some unsightly backhoes and port-o-potties. What a terrible way for a first time view! There is also a dirt road here from somewhere down below for those who want the view, but not the work. We walked around to the southeast side of the summit and was captivated by the panoramic views of Mt Hood and the valley below. Like many other places in Oregon, golden mantle ground squirrels ran amok begging for food from hikers. We posed for summit pictures and refueled on my sister's yummy peanut butter sandwiches before beginning our descent.

We chose an alternate route from the summit that took us around the west side for an overview of Bear Lake. Lots of talus crossings here, but very level and easily followed. Back on the main trailhead we went toward Warren Lake, a little slice of heaven on the shoulder of Mt Defiance. The shores are dotted with several cozy campsites. Although we didn't see any actual fish in the lake, the made their presence known with occasional water bubbles here and there.

We took the Starvation Ridge trail for the return trip to the trailhead. The scenery was quite different from the Mt Defiance trail along the other ridge. The forest floor here were much more open and the ground covering much greener from the additional sunshine. About 1.5 mile from the trailhead, around 7:30pm, dusk began to set in, gradually dimming what light there was on the forest floor. The ridge was a bit steep and slippery in places. Luckily, I had brought my trusty headlamp to guide us down the ridge. I would trek ahead of my sis and bro-in-law a few yards, then shine my headlamp back along the trail so that they can follow suit.

Just before the final series of switchbacks began, we reached an exposed viewpoint that overlooked the Columbia River and the interstate below. The night view was beautiful. I'll bet it is even better and more dramatic than the daylight view. Around 8:30pm, we descended onto flat ground for the main trailhead.

South Sister

Yes, I knew that I wanted to hike the South Sister at some point. Yes, I hadn't planned anything for Labor Day weekend. And yes, I was still feeling pretty satisfied after summiting Diamond Peak earlier this month and then going out to Colorado to hit a 14er. I thought it would be a real stretch trying to squeeze in another hike on my to-do list this summer, but heck, it was a three-day weekend after all...

E and I arrived at the Devils Lake TH shortly after 8:30am on Sunday, September 2, after a 2 hour drive from Eugene. As anticipated, the parking lot was already overflowing with cars and hikers alike. I maneuvered my little hatchback into a spot on the side of the road, strapped on our gear, and we were on our way up the South Sisters Climbers Trail by 9am. A bubbling brook led the way just a few hundred yards from the trailhead. The first portion of the trail climbs steadily through a hemlock forest via a series of switchbacks. It was way past wildflower season, so the elephants heads that I had hoped to see were no where in sight. Just the quiet shuffle of our footsteps and trekking poles tapping against the dirt.

Shortly after a large rock wall, the trail emerges onto the edge of an vast, open, sandy area. From the research I had done, this area was the remnant of a glacier that used to cover the entire valley. When the glacier receded/melted, it left this vast "moraine". Here, Broken Top and South Sister came into view. I had seen Broken Top many times from my car, but never this close. We even noticed a rock formation on the western slope that resembled an eagle spreading its wings (you know, like random cloud formations). The South Sister approach view, on the other hand, was totally not what I had expected. The only views and pictures I've ever recall seeing of South Sister were usually snow-topped and almost always with the Middle and North Sisters in tow. The peak I saw on that day was quite bare, with several glaciers dotting the higher elevations, and topped with red cinder like Diamond Peak. I caught myself thinking: "boy, this wasn't quite what I had thought South Sister would look like up close..."

We trekked across the plateau, pausing for occasional pictures and gawking time. The moraine was relatively level for the most part. The sky was this deep dark blue color that was almost purple. I kept on finding myself admiring the scenery. It was kind of like high desert, but with a different kind of isolation. Almost as if I was on a different planet. Not quite sure how to describe it. An occasional wind-gnarled trees stood watch over the landscape.

At the far end of the plateau, we left the moraine and began to ascend a small talus slope, about 2.3 miles from the summit. About a third of the way up the slope, E stops abruptly. Being the more experienced hiker of the two, I figured that perhaps the trail was not well-marked in this area and she didn't know where to proceed. As it turns out, E just discovered that she has a profound fear of heights! Her legs had froze and she was starting to panic. As a fellow acrophobic, I knew the exact feeling she was describing to me. I was somewhat surprised since I figured that if acrophobia was going to be a problem, I would have been the first one to know about it. Instead, I found myself in unfamiliar territory as I encouraged my hiking partner to take deep breaths and re-assured her that I would not let her fall. Step by step, I continued to encourage E and reassure her safety. A few minutes later, we were at the top of the small ridge celebrating her success.

We continued on the talus slope, which was marked with an array of volcanic rocks and rock piles to the west and a diminishing treeline to the east. At a small saddle that overlooked a grayish-green pool below the glacier terminus, we stopped to refuel before attempting the next portion of steep cinder scree. Ground squirrels ran amok here looking for handouts. The wind was blowing at a pretty good rate here, so we zipped up windbreakers and put on gloves before moving on.

The ascent up the red scree was challenging because the slope seemed to go on forever. It was quite the calf workout, steadily sucking away the strength in my calves all the way up. I tripped several times from what I am guessing was fatigue in my leg muscles. The wind was blowing harder too, at times, whipping my own hair against my face. Other times, it would blow so hard that I felt like it was going to blow me off course, if not off the slope completely. E admitted that she was beginning to understand why I had made her carry heavy jacket and warm clothing up the trail, even though the temperature was easily in the 80's at the lower elevations. As we trudged up the mountain, descending hikers kept on telling us we were almost there. It was one of those things where everyone cheered each other on because they've all experienced and know what you were going through. At this point, it was difficult to gauge the distance to the summit because we could only see the edge of the false summit, which we would come to find out was the edge of the crater rim.

WOW! The South Sister summit consists of a wide crater rim adorned with black lava rocks and a 1/4 mile wide glacier in the middle with a steep drop on the west edge. The actual summit is a rock formation at the north end of the crater rim, immediately across from where the cinder trail had emerged. There must've been at least 100 other hikers bunkered down in the lava rock "half-igloos" that dotted the crater rim, shielding themselves from the wind. More gawking ensued before we trekked around the crater's east rim, the easier of the two approaches to the summit.

Summit views were awesome! Middle Sister, North Sister, and Mt Jefferson were visible to the north. Although it was a cloudless day, smoke from a nearby wildfire had obscured potential views of Mt Hood and Mt Adams to the farther north. We were many hundreds of feet above Broken Top and the backside of Mt Bachelor's ski runs. Bend and La Pine were visible below in the distance to the east. Diamond Peak, Cowhorn Mtn, and Mt Thielsen were also visible to the south along with the multitude of lakes that lie below along Cascade Lakes Highway. Although I am deathly afraid of heights, I found myself gravitating to the top of the summit rock to pose for a picture just to experience the exhilaration of being up there. There wasn't a summit register to leave my mark, but it was still a very rewarding ascent, which took about 5 hours.

We spent about 30 minutes on the summit before beginning our descent. Trekking across the glacier on the way back was simply amazing! A blue-green pool had formed where part of the glacier had began to melt. As the sunlight struck the water's surface, it made the pool glitter in all directions. I have walked on a glacier before, but this one was even more beautiful.

Though much easier cardio-wise, the rest of the descent was made a bit challenging because my toes were being smashed against the toe box of my boots all the way down. My bruised heel injury from softball earlier this summer also decided to make a cameo appearance, making additional rest time necessary throughout the descent. Nonetheless, we were back at the trailhead 3.5 hours later.