Mt. Defiance

... named such because it defiantly holds onto its snowpack.
Named such because it defies the feeble-kneed. Before today, I was intimidated by this mountain's name and superlative reputation: the tallest mountain in the Gorge with the toughest, most demanding elevation gain (under 6 miles in almost 5,000 feet). Straight up. Really.

It was a muscle-burning, slow hike up. Windy.

When the trail disappeared under the snow, we played I Spy with the surveyor tags and blazes. (Ah! As in, "Where in the blazes are we?!").

We summitted around 12:30, four hours from "go" time. The snow was about 8-9 feet deep at the top; we walked right onto the roof of one of the radio tower buildings. There wasn't much to look at, except each other, since the cloud cover was close-in. And also, the wind was blowing snow all over the place and on top of my eyeball.
This is how we kiss. Always.

Briton hiked Mt. Defiance in July 2003 with two good friends. This is the view you see on a clear day:No one is kissing in this picture. So, I dunno. Clear day, no kissing. Cloudy day, kissing. Pros and Cons.

We flew down the open snow field; leaping and jumping through the soft snow. Once we hit the tree cover again, though, it was back to picking our way over the packed, icy snow and watching for the blazes and ribbons, lest we lose the trail. We had so much fun, pushing our bodies and the sense of accomplishment (for me, anyway) of facing my earlier misgivings. The view of Hood and the Gorge may have been obscured from the top, but for us, we hiked away from that mountain with a clearer view of ourselves and our relationship.