Talapus Lake #1039,Mason Lake #1038,Mount Defiance #1009

As the 2006 season begins to wind down amid some of the most spectacular fall colors in memory, I've been savoring longer days on the trails. Last week I made my annual pilgrimage up the Katwalk just to take pictures and have lunch as I watched the trout rise lazily in Ridge Lake; this week I felt that lunch at Mason Lake was in order. I've nothing against the new trail to Mason, I just prefer the longer and (to me) more enjoyable approach from the Talapus trailhead.

I managed a classic late start, hitting the trail just before noon with high hopes that the clouds and fog would soon burn off. Overall, the trail is still in great shape after the recent rains-- very little mud but with sections of standing water in the trail bed as you cross through the valley between Rainbow and Mason Lakes. I reached Mason in a little over two hours and as I was eating my lunch and trying to peer through the clouds and catch the odd glimpse of the opposite shore I thought to myself, ""I've got to get up above all this gunk!"" I considered scrambling up Bandera since its summit was occasionally visible, but I'd already done that earlier this year and wanted something new and different. As always, the heretofore unknown wonders of the Mt. Defiance trail beckoned and, this time, I was off like a shot.

The trail climbs steadily upward, gaining elevation for the first mile and a half or so, through the trees and their impressive fungi before leveling out and traversing a riotous meadow a few hundred feet below the summit. The clouds were still out in force, but I was heartened by momentary swatches of blue sky appearing above me as I walked through the meadow (see pic. 1) Just before the trail began its long descent toward Thompson Lake I found what I was looking for: A narrow bootpath angling sharply up toward the summit. I ascended, literally, through a hole in the clouds and when I reached the top I was greeted by clear blue skies and a sun so wonderfully warm that I realized just how chilled I had gotten. The panorama was beyond words. The cloud layer was roiling and churning about a hundred feet below me, occasionally parting to reveal a Lake Kulla Kulla and the Pratt River valley. Otherwise there were just a few scattered peaks rising out of the mist briefly before disappearing again: Baker, Glacier, Stuart and Kaleetan, among others, all made appearances. To the south Rainier seemed to be floating above it all on a sea of clouds (see pic.2).

I finally left the summit and started back down around four o'clock, knowing that I'd be headlampin' it for the last few miles. Problem was, by the time it was dark a thick layer of ground fog had sprung up which the LED's on my headlamp turned into a solid wall of white and the halogen spotlight could only penetrate for about ten to fifteen feet at best. This slowed me down a bit and made the last hour somewhat tedious so I arrived back at the car around 7:15pm. Altogether somewhere around 16+ miles and an incredible day on the trail, the view from atop Defiance making it worth every step.