April 23, 2011
Me and Nathan. Near Oregon Scenic Highway #30. On the Columbia River; outside of Hood River, hour east of Portland. Most intense training hike of the season so far. In entirety, Mt. Defiance is 12 miles round trip, 5,000 feet of elevation gain. I carried about 40 pounds in my pack. We made it to about 3/4 -½ mile from the top before deep snow postholing stopped us. Gorgeous 180 degree view of Washington across the river – Mt St. Helens to the left, Rainier in the middle, and Adams to the right. Well worth the slog, though near the top, my exertion level reached the audible ‘motherfucker’ threshold – I explained to Nathan that when I start slinging ‘motherfucker’ out loud it means ‘beyond what I think I can and want to do with no visible end in sight’, - pretty much an 'are-you-kidding-me?' I was at the dirty, dust-ball corners of my limits; tears brimming in my eyes. Sometimes it is only at the end of the effort do I remember why I began.
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