Mt Defiance (Starvation Ridge) 09-Feb-2011
Posted: February 10th, 2011, 8:07 am
Facing a weekend of rain, I took yesterday as a sick day (I think of it as a “health” day) to check out the snow conditions on Mt. Defiance. The weather forecast promised a bluebird day and that’s what I got. It had been cold enough in the Gorge to ice-up parts of I-84 and I passed two wrecks on the way to the Starvation Creek TH. My car was probably the only one in the lot most of the day and the recent report of a break-in at this TH was in the back of my mind. I like the Starvation Ridge trail because, unlike the other trail to Defiance, it has views.
The trail was in good condition and free of snow up to about 2700’ when a light dusting of 1-2” appeared. Where the trail crosses the boulder field and old clear cut at around 3300’, the snow depth had increased to 3-4” over a hard base.
The new snow was very light and fluffy and never got deeper than 6” even on the summit. Sitting as it was over a solid base of either dirt or heavily consolidated old snow, it was very easy to walk on. The trail was in great shape all the way to the summit, with no significant blowdowns or other obstructions. Warren Lake was frozen over but the ice wasn’t that thick - definitely not something you’d want to walk on.
Up until the lake, the trail was very visible through the snow - after that there had been sufficient snowfall and wind drift to hide the trail, so I just headed up slope to intersect with the service road.
Enroute, I had a view of myself,
and of Adams and Rainer (St Helens is just out of the picture to the left).
Mine were the only tracks on the summit that day,
and I was rewarded with my first iconic view of Hood for 2011.
The air temp was cool but there was almost no wind and it was warm in the sun. Large chunks of ice had built-up on the guy wires and antenna structures and were being loosened by the sun - so my summit lunch was serenaded by loud crashes of falling ice and the occasional piece of ice shrapnel. The chance to walk though the woods on fresh untracked snow was just too much of a temptation, so rather than descend via the Defiance trail or retrace my steps exactly, I decided to return via the service road and a spur to that road which reconnects with the Starvation Ridge trail E of Warren Lake.
After that it was back down Starvation Ridge to the TH to find my car undamaged. One of the Gorge’s classic hikes on a wonderfully sunny day in February - definitely good for my health!
The trail was in good condition and free of snow up to about 2700’ when a light dusting of 1-2” appeared. Where the trail crosses the boulder field and old clear cut at around 3300’, the snow depth had increased to 3-4” over a hard base.
The new snow was very light and fluffy and never got deeper than 6” even on the summit. Sitting as it was over a solid base of either dirt or heavily consolidated old snow, it was very easy to walk on. The trail was in great shape all the way to the summit, with no significant blowdowns or other obstructions. Warren Lake was frozen over but the ice wasn’t that thick - definitely not something you’d want to walk on.
Up until the lake, the trail was very visible through the snow - after that there had been sufficient snowfall and wind drift to hide the trail, so I just headed up slope to intersect with the service road.
Enroute, I had a view of myself,
and of Adams and Rainer (St Helens is just out of the picture to the left).
Mine were the only tracks on the summit that day,
and I was rewarded with my first iconic view of Hood for 2011.
The air temp was cool but there was almost no wind and it was warm in the sun. Large chunks of ice had built-up on the guy wires and antenna structures and were being loosened by the sun - so my summit lunch was serenaded by loud crashes of falling ice and the occasional piece of ice shrapnel. The chance to walk though the woods on fresh untracked snow was just too much of a temptation, so rather than descend via the Defiance trail or retrace my steps exactly, I decided to return via the service road and a spur to that road which reconnects with the Starvation Ridge trail E of Warren Lake.
After that it was back down Starvation Ridge to the TH to find my car undamaged. One of the Gorge’s classic hikes on a wonderfully sunny day in February - definitely good for my health!