Mt. Defiance - The Easy Way

At 4,959 feet Mt. Defiance takes the honor of highest point in the Columbia River Gorge.  From the Columbia River, nearly at sea level, the path to the summit gains 4800 feet in six miles.  It's the toughest hiking trail in the Gorge. 

Huckleberry leaves displaying fall color

I hiked this Mt. Defiance trail once - and only once.  Back in 2000, a soccer mom friend of mine and I made the trek to the summit.  Back then, I wasn't a very experienced hiker, and the hike nearly did me in.  I remember the steep descent, down endless switchbacks, seemed to take forever.  The cramping calves and aching quads.  The multiple blisters on my toes.  It took my body nearly a week to recover.  I haven't hiked this trail since.

Yep - I love the trail sign photos!

But one of the remaining 100 hikes in Mr. Sullivan's book was a shortcut to the top of Mt. Defiance.  Only 1.6 miles and 1500 feet of climbing would get you there.  The only catch - reaching the trailhead meant a long drive on a bumpy gravel road, the main reason this hike was still unchecked in my book.

Mt. Defiance towers over Bear Lake

So on a hot Sunday of Labor Day weekend, I set out to tackle this trail.  Yes, the drive was arduous - 10 miles of bumpy gravel road is not a fun way to travel.  But finally, I spotted the trailhead sign next to a wide spot in the road. 

Unknown red berries

Since the actual path to the summit wasn't very long, I tacked on a side trip to nearby Bear Lake.  A pretty mountain pond, ringed by lodgepole pine and huckleberry bushes, it made a nice snack stop.  Only 0.8 miles off the main trail, definitely worth the diversion. 

Bear Lake west side

Some of the huckleberry leaves were already beginning to sport fall colors.  And a nearby bush showed off bright red berries (I have no idea what type).

Rock patterns on the lake bottom

The Mt. Defiance summit, radio towers and all, was plainly visible from the lakeshore.  Gazing at the towering wall of mountain, it looked a long ways up!  (I've got to climb up to there??)

Mt. Adams peeping through the trees

But Defiance was the day's goal, so back to the main trail I headed.  And the climbing began in earnest.  Never super-steep, it was nonetheless a consistent up.  But the path was not without its rewards.  I did spot a nice glimpse of Mt. Adams through the trees.

The trail went through a large rockslide

And I got to walk through this cool talus slope.  Complete with a huge cairn and a view of Mt. Hood.

Old weathered wood

And I passed by some really cool old weathered tree trunks.  The interesting patterns in the wood made great photo subjects.

Trailside fall color

Approaching Defiance from the southwest took me around the summit, through another rockslide, and back into the forest.  I thought at first I'd missed the top, until I saw one of the radio towers through a gap in the trees.

Summit selfie

Yahoo!  I made it to the top!  This was by far my easiest mountain summit.  After a couple self-portraits, I perched upon a large rock to have lunch.

Mt. Hood view from Mt. Defiance summit

The view couldn't have been finer.  To the south, Mt. Hood rose from the Hood River valley.  To the east, I could see the brown hills of the Badger Creek wilderness.  And to the north, I got a view of the ugly radio towers that reside on top of Mt. Defiance.  Not exactly a pristine wilderness experience!

Mt. Defiance summit is quite ugly!

A few hiking parties straggled out of the woods while I sat on top.  They had all climbed from the Gorge trailhead, and everyone of them looked beat.  I felt mighty smug sitting on top of Defiance, knowing I'd only had to cover a third of the distance and elevation gain.

More lovely fall leaves

After enjoying my lunch with a view, I packed up and headed across the summit proper.  Sullivan's book described a loop around the very top of Defiance that was a recommended return trip.  All I had to do was hike a short distance down the Gorge trail and look for an unmarked side path.

Mt. Adams and the Columbia River

The trail to the Gorge was super duper steep!  It dropped down immediately, losing lots of hard-won elevation.  I kept a sharp eye out for the connector trail.  I was afraid of missing the trail, traveling down too far, and having to hike this steep trail back up.

Mt. St. Helens on the horizon

But I didn't have to worry.  After descending nearly a mile, I spotted a trail heading back to the west.  Some nice person had marked it with a large arrow made out of sticks.  The trail began in a thick forest, but soon led me into an area cleared by rockslides.  And boy oh boy were the views fabulous!

Bear lake is wayyy down there!

First of all, I was treated a nice shot of Mt. Adams.  The mountain rose from the surrounding foothills, towering above the blue waters of the Columbia River.  Traveling further west, Mt. St. Helens came into view.  Contouring around the mountain far enough brought me looking down into the forested valley where Bear Lake resided.  The wide-open vistas on this trail were by far the best part of my hike.

Mt. Hood parting view

But all good things must come to an end, and this scenic path finally rendezvoused with the trail back to the car.   Sigh....back into the viewless woods.  But not before I crossed a final talus slope with a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood.

Fall is in the air

This was definitely an easier way to reach the summit of Mt. Defiance.  The entire hike, including my Bear Lake side trip, was about 6.5 miles and only 1900 feet total elevation gain.  If I ever get the urge to see the top of Defiance again, it's nice to know I have options.


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Hood to Coast - The Bonus Photos

Hopefully you're not too sick of hearing about Hood to Coast quite yet.  I've got a collection of "bonus" photos that didn't quite fit in my recaps.  These images give more insight into the carnival-like atmosphere of this famous relay race.

Large white passenger vans are a common sight.  But most teams try to brighten them up a little.

This van had a giant blow-up turtle on top.

You don't see men with green hair everyday.

This van decor is a little gruesome.

Runner humor - who doesn't giggle a bit when someone talks about a "fartlek?"

This lady is stuck in the '80s (I wonder if she ran in that get-up?)

One of the funniest vans - the top rack is lined with beer taps (which lit up at night!).  And to finish it off, a stripper pole on the back.

Wonderful strangers who cheered me on as I ran my first leg.  So I took a photo of them.

Probably my favorite H2C decor - and for a good cause.  The ladies in this truck were promoting breast cancer awareness.  A great way to get their message across!

This lady had a "cow" theme going.  And I loved her team's neon orange tank tops.

Team Super Slug??

This crown mounted on the roof box lit up at night.  Quite a sight!

Ohhhh......there are some shorts just shouldn't be worn in public......(especially by a guy!)

Team "Hoodzilla" had a couple of stereo speakers mounted on top of their rig.  The guys drove by blasting loud rock music.  Awesome!

It wouldn't be Hood to Coast without our friends the porta-potties.  Or a porta-potty line.

I thought this team name was very creative!

Cool costumes - hopefully not too difficult to run in.

I saw blow-up dolls being used in all sorts of ways.

It's not everyday you get passed by a man wearing a rainbow tu-tu!  Only in the Hood to Coast Relay.

Our poor monkey didn't fare well, and leaked air just as quickly as he was blown up.  Time to spring for a new monkey I guess.  Next year......

The Big Finish - H2C 2013

Are you ready for leg 3 of my saga?  Read on!

After being up all night, either running our second legs or supporting teammates, everybody in the Monkey Butter Express van 2 was beat.  It was very tempting to lay down and sleep at our current location.  But because race traffic had the reputation of being heavy between exchanges 24 and 30, our van needed to get to exchange 30 first.  Then, if time permitted, we'd get some rest.

Honey bucket line - a common H2C sight

Karl was the brave soul who drove the entire way - while fighting back the sleep monster (He became van 2's hero!)  Everyone else conked out soon after we picked up our final runner.  Although I drifted in and out of sleep, it seemed our van rolled through the traffic with no trouble.  To our delight, we arrived at exchange 30 as the sun was coming up.  Not due to run until nearly 9:30, we had a whole three hours to sleep!

Ready for my final leg!

Ashley spread a tarp in a huge field.  My van-mates and I rolled out our sleeping bags, and in the pre-dawn silence, fell fast asleep.

Three hours later, I awoke to voices.  Lifting my head up, I saw a long line had formed for the porta potties, the end right next to where Hyla lay sleeping.  Realizing I was first runner, and due at the exchange in a half hour, I knew I'd better get moving.

An accordion player was entertaining the runners

Ohhh.....my body was stiff and sore!  Although I'd been running all summer, I didn't train nearly as much as I should've.  And my lack of preparation had caught up.

Ashley walked with me to the exchange.  Once again, I waited for the arrival of Eric.  Because we were in the sparsely populated Coast Range, cell service was non-existent.  Not being able to communicate with van one, we weren't sure exactly when to expect their runner.  But we arrived at the exchange area based on time projections - plus a few minutes early, just in case.

Scenes from my final leg - lovely Oregon countryside

By now, traffic had become super-heavy.  Lines of vehicles crawled past us.  A half dozen runners hung out at the exchange area.  They'd finished their legs, only to find no teammate waiting.  The guys kept yelling out team numbers and names, to no avail.  One man was really funny.  He held his bracelet high and asked if anyone wanted to take it and run for him.  He then joked his teammates were probably all back at the van drinking beer.  When his relief finally arrived, after a 20 minute wait, everyone at the exchange applauded.

Beautiful red barn

Finally, I heard our team number called.  I spotted Eric coming in, looking very happy to be done.  Passing off the bracelet for the last time, he wished me luck.  Ok, time to get moving!

But.....I took a step, and my legs balked.  They were so stiff all I could manage was a fast shuffle.  After two long runs in less than 24 hours, my body told me it was quite done!  With every step my muscles screamed.  This was not gonna be fun.

Backed up traffic meant the exchange was near

But .... luckily this final leg, at only four miles, was my shortest.  And it was relatively flat.  Compared to my previous two legs, it should be a piece of cake.  I kept telling myself "only four miles......only four miles."  It would become my mantra.

Happily the scenery was a good distraction.  This leg followed a country road through some lovely farmland, complete with a cute red barn.  I passed forested corridors, interspersed with open fields.  Although the day was beginning to get warm, a combination of shady areas and a slight breeze helped immensly.

Monkeys on the move

Even though it was only four miles, this final segment seemed to take forever.  The "one mile to exhange" sign was a welcome sight.  Then a volunteer informated me that there was one final climb.  Really?  A hill at the very end??  What a dirty trick!

I staggered up the stupid hill (ugh!).  Finally noticing the backed up race traffic, I knew the exchange was very close.  Almost to the exchange zone, I readied myself to hand off to Lindsay.  It was then I noticed my teammates had strung a toilet paper finish tape across my path.  Awww!!!  Feeling like a true champion, I ran through the tp with hands held high, before surrendering my bracelet for the last time.  Yahoo!  I was done, done, DONE!

Lindsay passes off to Rick

Ahhh....It felt so good to be finished.  As we drove to the next exchange, I lounged in the van scarfing down everything in sight.  Our next stop was a wooded area with an overlook to a waterfall.  And a huge clear cut next door.  We had to walk a ways to the actual exchange zone, and upon arrival, realized we'd forgotten to grab the toilet paper roll for Lindsay's finish tape.  Luckily, Hyla spied a roll sitting on top of one of the cones, and grabbed it.

Monkeys in waiting

So Lindsay got her finish line tp after all!  Back in the van, we drove down the road, Karl ringing the cowbell, and Lindsay yelling funny things at all the runners.  When we passed Rick by, he got an especially loud cheer from his teammates.

Rick hits the tp tape

And on to the next exchange.....by now it was nearing midday, and the sun was out in full force.  Temps were beginning to get toasty.  I was so thankful to already have my run out of the way.

Hyla is ready with the TP!

Rick passed the wristwrap off to Karl, and I again volunteered to drive the van down the narrow country roads to our next stopoff.  Karl had a very short 3 mile leg, so we had to hustle.

Karl finishes his leg in style

But we made it in plenty of time to erect Karl's tp finish tape.  Karl got lots of style points for his big finish!

Then Ashley was on the course.  Poor Ashley had a long final leg - 7.2 miles, all uphill, in the blazing sun.  But Ashley took it in stride.

Go Ashley!

We arrived at our final exchange.  Due to Ashley's long distance leg, we had a longer wait.  But it was nice to spend a little time and check out the exchange area.  Lots of funny decorated vans, and interesting costumes.  Many photo ops!

Hyla gets ready for her leg

Finally, Ashley came puffing in.  Lindsay and I rushed to get the tp strung across his path, and Hyla reached for the bracelet.  Yahoo!  Our final runner was now on the course.  Seaside, here we come!

Reunited....and it feels so good

Once again, Hyla managed to beat us to the finish.  We got stuck in some traffic, and then it took awhile to find a parking spot.  But as we approached the beach at Seaside, I glimpsed the other van's monkey above the crowd.  Reunited with our van one teammates, Monkey Butter Express prepared for our symbolic run across the finish line.

The big team finish

With our final runner done with her leg, Monkey Butter Express was permitted to run across the finish line as a team.

I love crossing this finish line

What a great feeling!  There were lots of cheers and high fives.  And after we crossed the finish, each team member was given a medal.

This year's medal

Formalities done, my van-mates and I headed straight for the beer garden.  Time to replenish those carbs!  We'd been dreaming of a nice, cold brewski all day.  A toast was made for another successful Hood to Coast relay now in the bag.

The monkeys have a toast

Of the three years I've participated in Hood to Coast, this was by far my best year.  My van-mates were wonderful - very supportive, fun people.  Traffic, although heavy in places, was still by far better than the two previous years.  Even though I struggled with my legs, I gutted it out, survived and still felt like I had fun. 

Another H2C in the bag!

Although there's now lots of other relay races across the US, Hood to Coast will always have a special place in my heart.  Fingers crossed Monkey Butter Express will be back again next year!


For a recap of leg one, click here.  For leg two recap, click this link.