Mt Defiance W7W/KG-043 July 19, 2013
Mt Defiance is one of the peaks along the I-90 Highway about 5 miles west of SnoqualmiePass. Washington Trails Assn’s hike info here:
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-defiance
To make up for running out of time, a week before, on the SOTA trek to Pratt Mtn (mostly the same trail but east of Mt Def) I hiked up the first 2 miles of the Ira Spring Trail way too fast. This extra unneeded effort resulted in me being burned out for the last 700 vertical feet of ascent to Defiance. In a way, getting to the top later than planned was a blessing because when I got there… the last of the other hikers who passed me were leaving and I had the whole summit to myself. As the last hiker walked by, he heard the Morse code coming from my radios speaker and said he was surprised that anyone used it any more. He told me that he learned Morse as a Boy Scout and was glad it was still alive. His comments elevated my mood a bit.
The Mt Def. summit is a rocky approx 20 x 50 ft area with a few snow beaten scrub trees on its rocky top. The tall trees, in case an activator was thinking of tossing a line up, are along the drop off part of the summit or down the trail a bit and not very accessible.
The rest of the story can be found here:
http://kr7w-sota.blogspot.com/2013/07/mt-defiance-w7wkg-043-july-19-2013.html
Best Regards,
Rich KR7W
Tacoma, WA