For this particular morning hike, we woke up around 4.30 am and reached
the traildhead around 6.00 am. After preparations, we started our
ascent. The original target was to reach Warren Lake and then continue
onwards to Mt. Defiance summit. Although it was February, the weather
around the trailhead was clear and not raining. We were even able to
spot the stars and played with the iPhone app showing all the
constellations. Finally distinguishing and seeing the Big Dipper was
great.
The initial part of the hike was very steep and hit me hard. Questions like "what am I doing here?, I should be sleeping in my warm bed" started to come to my mind. But immediately the view of the Columbia Gorge albeit dark was great. So, of course we continued. Around 2500 ft the snow started and there we spotted bear tracks and became a little bit nervous. The team decided to stick together and moved forward. We moved up to 3800 ft and the weather conditions got worse. It got very cold and the snow made it very difficult to move. So, we decided to go back even before reaching the Warren Lake. After a good breakfast, the descent was tough on the knees but the scenery of the Columbia River and the Gorge near the end of the trail was stunning.
The initial part of the hike was very steep and hit me hard. Questions like "what am I doing here?, I should be sleeping in my warm bed" started to come to my mind. But immediately the view of the Columbia Gorge albeit dark was great. So, of course we continued. Around 2500 ft the snow started and there we spotted bear tracks and became a little bit nervous. The team decided to stick together and moved forward. We moved up to 3800 ft and the weather conditions got worse. It got very cold and the snow made it very difficult to move. So, we decided to go back even before reaching the Warren Lake. After a good breakfast, the descent was tough on the knees but the scenery of the Columbia River and the Gorge near the end of the trail was stunning.
The GPS logs and some photos are below:
