The views from the Mount
Defiance Trail are spectacular.
It stands in the middle of the Columbia
River Gorge between the towns of Cascade
Locks and Hood River to begin park
at the Starvation Creek parking lot.
Yep, that's the real name.
It's just off I-84.
Go early if you can.
It's a decent sized lot,
but spaces fill up fast.
This map from all trails shows
the hike is a loop.
If you want it to be.
I've only gone up the main
trail on the left side here and
those contour lines on the map.
They show the.
Elevation gain is pretty constant.
It's 12 miles round trip and
you will climb 4960 feet up.
It had been a few years since
I'd climbed Mount Defiance,
but a friend wanted to go over Memorial
Day weekend and I figured what the heck?
Let's go. The beginning is deceptively
easy and the site's stunning,
not far from the parking lot.
The first in a series of waterfalls
is called Cabin Creek Falls,
nearly hidden by a huge
boulder made of basalt.
It plunges 200 feet from above
and always makes me feel the
trail ahead will be easy and fun.
Don't be fooled.
The vertical gain between
the parking lot and the
top of Mount Defiance is similar
to the gain between Timberline
Lodge and the top of Mount Hood.
It's sometimes used as a training climb
by serious Mountaineers farther down the
trail. You'll come to a wooden
bridge and a second waterfall
called Hole in the wall.
It drops nearly 100 feet. It
was created back in 1938 when
engineers dug a tunnel and changed
the path of Warren Creek, which was
washing out the historic highway.
Keep going and you'll
reach the last of the waterfalls.
This is Wonder Creek and the
lower part of Lancaster Falls.
You can't see it all, but it tumbles
250 feet down the mountain side.
The water hits the ground so hard
it creates a refreshing misty
breeze that moves the nearby grass.
So this is a pretty challenging trail.
It goes in. I think it's
roughly 5 miles, maybe 6 miles.
I think it's 6 miles and it's up 5000 feet.
And the first mile is not that steep,
so that is a lot of elevation and we
might as well get underway.
In early summer, the trail is gorgeous,
filled with green plants pouring out
oxygen to help with the climb. What's not
helpful is the poison oak.
Be careful we saw lots on our hike.
I found myself pausing often with the excuse
of capturing scenes of the Columbia River.
I also appreciated the
chance to catch my breath.
The trail winds along as you climb up 1000
feet and then 2000 feet and then 3000.
You're going up 1000 feet per mile.
This big log is a marker of sorts.
Climb over. It's awkward,
then look up and see evidence
of the massive Eagle Creek fire.
2017 flames burned.
Both trunks here,
but the trees are still alive.
A bit farther up,
you'll start to see more burn trees,
some dead from the fire
K we're about 4.3 miles in.
And we've reached a part
where we're in the trees.
And it's just going up and up and up.
You can kind of see a lot of
the burned out trees there.
I mean all along.
The way here we've been
seeing that nearly five years
after the fire, the underbrush has returned,
but some trees seem frozen in time.
Although if you look closely,
you will see nature's tenacity.
Then it's time to climb
again and you will find more
surprises along the way.
Second Oh yeah.
This is my favorite spot on this entire hike.
It is spectacular and gorgeous.
A huge scree slope. Take a look.
It goes for miles and miles from there.
It's more climbing in late May. I
ran into snow about a
quarter mile from the top.
Made the climb a bit more challenging
and I lost the trail at one point,
but as long as you keep going up
you'll find your way to a road after
bushwhacking all the way up you see.
There's a four by four trail.
It goes all the way up here to the
communications tower. Hey pink. There
is another trail on the other side there.
I know where the rocks are. In the tree so.
You go by road or bike trail.
Yeah, let's go out real.
Follow the path up and you'll
come to the road again.
It took me 5 hours to reach the
top another 3 1/2 to get back
down and I burned 3600 calories.
By the way, the actual top is
not all that exciting unless
you're a broadcast engineer.
But take a moment to look out from the
highest point in the Columbia Gorge and
on a clear day you'll find spectacular
views and realize you have made it to
the top of an enchanting viewpoint
that few ever see for themselves.
If you are fit and ready for a challenge,
Mount Defiance might just be the perfect
reason to say let's get out there.
Pat Doris KGW news.