[ira]

I headed out with Erik and Wayne on thursday to do a hike fairly close in as we thought wayne needed to get back in town by 2pm (which about 3 hrs later we found out he didn't). we decided we would either do defiance, pratt or bandera. when we hit exit 42 we decided on defiance or bandera, decision to be made when we got to the trail turnoff for bandera. we took the Ira Spring trail up which was snowfree for the first 2.5 miles or so and then started hitting pretty frozen snow. we put on our microspikes and ended up leaving them on for the rest of the trip until we got back to the point we had put them on. without the microspikes this hike would have been problematic as the trail is very icy in places and you would surely fall without them. at the bandera turnoff we decided to go to defiance and if we had the energy, do bandera on the return (we didn't). it was very sunny and pretty warm until the wind picked up near the pass (before dropping down to mason lake). the trail was very easy to follow past the lake and we turned left at the sign for mt defiance (rainbow lake, lake kulla kulla and pratt lake being to the right). we continued following tracks up the side of defiance but it was unlikely we were actually following a trail at this point, but in the snow it doesn't really matter. as we got up on the ridge the wind started to howl and it was cold! we each put on a couple of layers and took out our ice axes for the remainder of the trip to the summit which was pretty straightforward. as we got toward the summit erik saw something but couldn't quite make out what it was. it turned out to be a 12th man flag someone had put up there quite recently. it's amazing it was still there given the high winds. we took some pictures and then decided to head along the ridge to the west to get out of the wind.

Erik and Wayne

View east

i moved that way first and headed towards some trees slightly downhill but to my surprise all of a sudden i was on my back zooming along on solid ice. i made a quick ice axe arrest after about 12 ft or i would have hit some trees at a pretty good pace. (it's a good thing i practice ice axe arrest every year). now i was lying on my belly with my ice axe holding me and when i tried to stand there was no way the microspikes would hold on the solid ice. crampons would have worked as i could have front pointed up pretty easily, but i didn't bring them. trying to figure out how i was going to get back up i spied the top of a very little tree (i think), grabbed that with one hand and plunged the pick of the ice axe in higher up. i then pulled myself up as high as i could. another two times doing this and i got to a tree. still about 8 feet down the icy slope, erik came plunge stepping down using all his 240 lbs and leg force to make some nice steps for me. it's amazing how quickly things can go wrong but luckily there wasn't a problem. so, anyone heading up there watch out for the ice on the northern part of the summit area and to the west. a slip on the north side could be disastrous. on the way down we passed a couple of guys, one without an ice axe and one with. the one with carrying it in the wrong hand and by the handle. a few days ago we were skinning up pan point and someone was carrying an ice axe upside down (spike up). if he slipped he could have impaled himself. it's scary how many people carry ice axes and don't know how to use them. it's always a good idea to practice self arrest every year. you don't want to be trying to figure it out when hurdling downhill. excellent trip with good friends in sunny weather.

[BarbE]

Ira, good thing you know a thing or two about doing an ice axe arrest. Looks like you picked a great day for Defiance! Snoqualmie Pass was mired in freezing fog today.

[puzzlr]

Thanks for the story of the close call. It's good to be reminded that even familiar places can be dangerous with unusual conditions. Cool that you were able to to straight up the SE ridge to the summit. I've always wanted to try that, but without snow I really enjoy the traverse across the meadows to the normal trail up.

[Magellan]

Defiance is an I-90 favorite.

[joker]

Nice day out. Glad you stuck the arrest and managed to batman back up.

[watsonskipsmith]

Thanks for representing, 12th man rules the alpine!

GOOOOO HAAAAAWKS!

[Snowdog]

Yikes It is good to practice arresting often, so that it is an automatic response. As it turned out, yesterday would not have been a pleasant day for our arrest clinic at Hyak- your cold would surely have gotten worse. Cold fog We consoled ourselves with a sunny day on Keechulus Ridge instead.

[ira]

nice. glad you got out for a nice hike. when we were out thursday it was sunny all the way from the TH but we could see the fog in the pass. maybe we can get out this coming week.