Like our last hike on Mt. Hood, the weather was incredible especially after the long rainy season. As we drove to Mt. Hood on Hwy 26, I was rather surprised by how much snow had melted since we were there last time few weeks before. There were practically no clouds in the sky by the time we gathered in front of the climber's registration. I was glad I put tons of sunscreen lotion on since it was going to be like being on one of those old fashioned sun tan reflector for over several hours.
As expected, the snow was already turning into mush as the temperature soared and we decided to put on our snowshoes from the beginning. None of us even bothered to put on outer shells of course. I had stubbornly packed my bag again to the max as if I was climbing Mt. Adams. I figured I'd be alright on my real climb if I can do this day's hike with this much weight on my back. However, since I did this last time for the hike to the top of Palmer, I had wised up just a little and gone through all my stuff in the pack at home to ask myself if each item was an absolutely necessary item or just a luxury item. I also put all my stuff in a pack liner to prevent them from getting wet from the snow melting through the pack fabric, which would double as a cache in the tent when we camp at "the Lunch Counter" on Mt. Adams. I wore my trusty mountaineering boots instead of my hiking boots to determine if there was any hot spot that could potentially become a source of blister. I usually pre-moleskin my feet on all my hikes but I had also skipped this step this day for this purpose. At some point, I will have to invest in another set of poles with external locking mechanisms though. On our last hike to Nesmith Point, the internal locking mechanism on one of my current poles refused to cooperate and I ended up hiking with only one pole. It was do-able but made things rather awkward at times. I would not want to have to mess with them particularly in mountaineering situations in which it could be rather difficult to twist the poles to engage the locking mechanism, especially with frozen hands. It's really too bad because I really love my poles otherwise. 
Once our slog commenced, our goal was to reach the top of Palmer Glacier by 1pm. Then we would enter the backcountry area to start climbing the steeper section towards the Crater Rock. Matt Weaver led the group doing a great job of pacing ourselves with that in mind. But even then, it felt like we were making faster progress up the hill than before - I noticed only after the fact that we had already gone passed Sicox Hut where the second Mt. Hood team would be spending the night before their climb to the summit tonight. Wind was blowing from west today and getting stronger as the hike went on. We could see a standing lenticular cloud starting to form and also some rotating clouds over the ridge above the twin rock. It was time to put on a layer when we made a pit stop several hundred feet below the top of Palmer Glacier. Instead of my eVent shell, I opted for my Mountain Hardware's Monkeyman Jacket. It was one of the most comfortable things I had put on my skin. Even though this furry synthetic material was very warm, it maintained just the right level of warmness at all time because the air could go right through it. 
We made the top of Palmer around 1:15pm. A little late but not too bad. After we took another breather and ate some food, we marched on upward toward the Crater Rock. But, unlike the groomed trail we took up to this point, it proved much more difficult and time consuming to make progress from there on. The snow on the south facing slope had become so mushy that Matt was post-holing thigh deep practically every step. I was positioned just behind him and kept filling those holes with snow to make the steps more secure for the climbers behind me. It was already 2:30pm by the time we reached the point abeam and level with the Twin Rock sticking out on the western ridge. Matt's altimeter read 9,100 at this point. This meant that we made only 600' in 1:15 and we had another 1,100' to go. There was no question in our minds that we were out of time.In the mean time, Eric, another training hike leader, followed us on his skies which I was becoming envious of. And I didn't think he even broke sweat at all actually. (Later that day, Eric went out to re-hydrate with us and climbed back up again to summit Mt. Hood that evening!) Like I mentioned, the snow was utterly a slushy mushy mess and I was kind of concerned that I might end up hyper extending one of my knees on our way down which made me hesitant to commit my weight decisively as I plunge stepped down. We all just about had it by the time we reached the top of Palmer Glacier and it was time to put our snowshoes back on again for the rest of our way down. Not that that made it much easier for us but at least we were not post holing. At one point, there was a snowcat coming down the trail sprinkling salt and the snow went from mushy to crunchy instantly. Thank god we weren't too far from the parking lot, the ultimate destination of every climb. We were tempted to swing by Silcox Hut to crash the second Mt. Hood team's party but it was decided that keep-Jennifer-happy was still the standing mantra and that we'd probably better leave them be. (Jennifer, a.k.a Swimbo, was the head honcho of Reach The Summit program.)
For us the Mt. Adams climbers, we will have about four weeks of blank period in which no official activity has been scheduled so it will be up to the individuals to go out and keep up on conditioning on their own. Towards the end of July, we will be getting together with the guides from Timberline Mountain Guides for an overnight camping event that will be aimed for more of technical training. That is going to be lots of fun!
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