Sunday, September 17th, 2006
Date: Sep 17th, 2006
Height: 4,960 feet
Location: 10 miles east of Cascade Locks, Oregon
Route: Starvation Ridge trail to Mt. Defiance trail, returning on Mt. Defiance trail.
Length: 12.5 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 4,935 FT
Mt. Defiance is the highest point in the gorge, it’s unfortunate it has the worst looking summit (view the pictures to confirm for yourself). The trail starts at Starvation Creek State Park, take the Mt. Defiance trail west of the parking lot unless you want to start your day with a steep climb up on the Starvation Ridge trail. A fair warning though, the elevation gained will be lost when you join the Mt. Defiance trail a mile or so later. Never the less, the Starvation Ridge trail is pleasant after a few steep switch-backs and offers several views of the Columbia River Gorge.
The Mt. Defiance trail starts with ~2 miles of steep switch-backs. Bring some trekking poles as your knees will appreciate it on the descent. The trail will level out for a 1/4 mile or so before a good ~3 mile stretch up the mountain (with few switch-backs). Watch for rock outcroppings, they seemed to offer the best views. The summit of the mountain is rather disappointing, it’s crowded with communications equipment
View the rest of the pictures here, or view a slideshow.
Sunday, August 20th, 2006
(Numbers represent 26 hikes longer than 2 miles since the year 2002.)
| Longest hike: |
19.2 miles* |
| Shortest hike: |
2.7 miles |
| Average hike: |
8.6 miles |
| Total: |
222.8 miles |
*Devil’s Peak via Salmon River and Kinzel Lake trails
Sunday, August 20th, 2006
Date: Aug 20th, 2006
Height: 5,066 feet
Location: 2 miles west of Govt. Camp, Oregon
Route: Mirror Lake trail to Tom Dick and Harry trail
Length: 8 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 1500 FT
Partner: Charlotte Townsley
First hike in over a year with Charlotte. She had never been this close to Mt Hood so it was exciting for her. The air is a little thick from the fires on the north side of the mountain, but it was still worth it. Next time we’ll bring the kids and camp overnight or swim in the lake.
View the rest of the pictures here, or view a slideshow.
Sunday, August 13th, 2006
Name: Mt Adams – South Spur
Date: Aug 11 & 12th, 2006
Height: 12,276 feet
Location: 15 miles north of Trout Lake, Washington
Route: South Climb Trail #183
Length: 11.4 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 6,676 FT
Partner: Josh Townsley
Josh and I spent Friday and Saturday climbing on Mt. Adams this past week. We started at Cold Springs Campground (5,600′) just outside of Trout Lake in Washington and camped at “Lunch Counter” some 3,650′ feet higher. We both had mild headaches from the elevation, but sleeping at 9,250′ helped because the following morning we were both fine.
The climb to the summit from Lunch Counter is a chore but we made the 3,026′ climb in good time. The abandoned miner’s cabin at the peak of the mountain is more exposed than I’ve ever seen it, but surprisingly there was very good glissading down from Piker’s Peak. Maybe 2,000′ vertical feet. Soft and fast.
We were down at the car maybe 3 hours after standing on the summit.
I learned a few things this trip:
- If you are going to leave your tent at home to save on weight, bring the bivvy sack.
- Chocolate Gu tastes like icing and Vanilla Bean Gu looks and tastes like motor oil.
- Bring a book if you know you’ll have several hours of downtime.
- Sunscreen lotion may not work well if it is old.
View the rest of the pictures here, or watch a slideshow.
Thursday, December 15th, 2005
Date: Dec 11th, 2005
Height: 5,066 feet
Location: 2 miles west of Govt. Camp, Oregon
Route: Mirror Lake trail and then the Tom Dick and Harry trail to summit
Length: 8 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 1500 FT
Partner: Josh Townsley and his friend Shawn
Significantly less snow than the previous weekend, made for a faster hike but not quite as enjoyable. I did find a sled near the summit and if Josh gets his pictures uploaded you’ll see some crazy pictures of myself trying to get down from the top.
Click on the picture for the rest of the set.
