Like many others, I wanted to take advantage of the weather window on Hood. I took off from the parking lot around 1:00, and reached Illumination Saddle around 3:30. I tried not to wake up the people camped at the saddle, if I did, sorry. I dropped down to the glacier and was quickly approaching the shooting gallery, a.k.a., Leuthold Couloir. Unfortunately, there was a rope team of 3 above me. Battling the ice that is constantly falling, combined with the additional stuff from the three guys was tough. As I neared the hourglass, I caught up with the rope team, so I just stayed behind the 3rd guy (but a bit to the side in case he fell), and used him as a human shield. It worked well. At the steep point, there were sections of hard ice mixed with the everpresent styrofoam snow. Overall, great conditions. I eventually moved to the side above the hourglass, and things got much better. I caught a great picture of Mt. Hood's shadow, as the sun was rising.
I also got a picture of that rope team, so if you read this, enjoy. I was getting a bit spent as I neared the top, but I always seemed re-energized, as soon as I see the summit. On the descent, I took the right side gully, instead of the left side (Pearly Gates), as it was clogged with people moving slowly. A couple nice glissades and I was back at the car. 9 hours car-to-car.
Many thanks to Gary for the beer. It hit the spot.
