Photos from this trip can be found here.
Pups and I came back to Mount Defiance exactly one year later. It’s one of those weekends where rain was in the forecast everywhere in the Cascades. I had hoped to go somewhere east for some sun, but then realized I needed to be back in town early in the evening. Piotr and Tim invited me to hike somewhere near Snoqualmie Pass and the consensus we all came to was Mount Defiance.
It was nice to hike with people again since South Wedge Mountain. It was the also the largest group I’ve hiked with this year, five people including me. The weather turned out to be much better than the forecast, we even got some sun along the way. My fifth time on the Ira Spring trail, so it wasn’t all that eventful except for good company. The trail was clear of snow all the way to the summit, and it was fairly dry for the most part. Lots of fall colors and photo ops along the way.
Clouds were rolling in and out of the nearby mountains and nothing was visible beyond the area. But I certainly got more views this time compared with last year, where there wasn’t much to look at. We made a new hiker friend on the summit who also attempted Rooster Mountain aka The Ark, this past summer after reading my trip report from August. Talk about a small world.
On the way back we ran into quite a few parties and the parking lot was half full when we arrived back at the car.