Mount Defiance (Oregon)

{{Short description|Mountain in Oregon, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{About|the mountain in Oregon state|other locations|Mount Defiance}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Defiance

| photo = Mount Defiance (Oregon).jpg

| photo_alt =

| photo_caption = Mount Defiance from Dog Mountain

| elevation_ft = 5010

| elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}{{cite ngs |pid=RC2321 |name=Mt Defiance |access-date=May 1, 2016}}

| prominence_ft = 1520

| prominence_ref = {{Cite peakbagger |name=Mount Defiance, Oregon |id=2378 |access-date=January 17, 2013}}

| range = Cascades

| country = United States

| state = Oregon

| region_type =

| region = Mount Hood National Forest

| district_type = County

| district = Hood River

| map = USA Oregon

| map_size = 240

| map_caption = Location in Oregon

| label_position = bottom

| coordinates = {{coord|45.648661403|N|121.722639119|W|type:mountain_region:US-OR_scale:100000_source:NGS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| topo = Mount Defiance

| easiest_route =

| type = Shield volcano

| last_eruption = Pleistocene

}}

Mount Defiance is a peak near the Columbia River Gorge in the US state of Oregon. It rises to an elevation of {{convert|5010|ft|0}} in the Mount Hood National Forest in Hood River County, Oregon. The northern and western flanks of the mountain are in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. The route up the mountain is often considered one of the hardest climbs in the Gorge;{{cite web |title=Mount Defiance |url=http://trails.gorgefriends.org/trail/mount-defiance/ |publisher=Friends of the Columbia Gorge |access-date=May 1, 2016}} the trail gains {{convert|5000|ft|-2}} in {{convert|6|mi}} from the Starvation Creek Trailhead.{{cite web |title=Starvation Creek State Park |url=http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_170.php |publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |accessdate=May 1, 2016}}

Mount Defiance is composed chiefly of lava flows.{{cite web |title=Volcano Hazards in the Mount Hood Region, Oregon |last1=Scott |first1=W.E. |last2=Pierson |first2=T.C. |last3=Schilling |first3=S.P. |last4=Costa |first4=J.E. |last5=Gardner |first5=C.A. |last6=Vallance |first6=J.W. |last7=Major |first7=J.J. |display-authors=3 |year=1997 |url=http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Hood/Hazards/OFR97-89/OFR97-89.pdf}} The base is basalt from an old shield volcano, and it is capped by andesite.{{cite map |title=Geologic Map of the Hood River Quadrangle, Washington and Oregon |last=Korosec |first=Michael |year=1987 |doi=10.2172/6464338 |url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/6464338-YUJJTc/6464338.pdf |access-date=May 1, 2016}}

The mountain was named by Dr. P.G. Barrett, an early resident of the Hood River Valley, as he believed it retained its winter snow late into the spring in defiance of the warming weather.{{cite book |title=Oregon Geographic Names |page=666 |first=Lewis A.|last=McArthur |edition=7th |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |date=2003 |isbn=0-87595-277-1}}