Our First Summit of Mount Hood, Oregon's Tallest Peak | June 3, 2023

On a perfectly clear and still early June day, we began ascending Mount Hood from the Timberline ski area parking lot around 4:00am. The climb went smoothly and we enjoyed expansive views from the summit. On the ascent I particularly was struck by the awesome huge shadow Mount Hood cast onto the surrounding countryside. The snow became steep enough as we approached Devil's Kitchen that even with ski crampons, the going became difficult - next time I would probably switch to simply boot packing if the snow is firm enough. We stashed our skis at the bergschrund just above Devil's Kitchen then ascended the steep chutes to the summit using one ice ax and crampons. 2 ice axes would have been simpler since I occasionally was sticking a gloved hand into the cold snow! We were short-roped for the chute ascent but many other climbers opted to climb without a rope. We chose a different chute to downclimb before returning to our skis and skiing to the Palmer snow field, and then entering the Timberline ski area to ski its groomed slopes to the lodge. A very rewarding and strenuous day! We enjoyed some wine-tasting later that weekend with friendly cats at a local vineyard.