I didn't hike the entire ridgeline, but there was no snow anywhere in sight, except a few small patches in the talus beneath the ridge. In the interest of providing a better report, after hiking I went to Mt. Hood Brewery's Ice Axe Grill for a beer, which has a view of the entire ridgeline. No snow in sight, and the ESB was tasty.
I was up and back down to the lake by 2pm. I was alone on the top, watching clouds roll past and open up and then obscure the view. Pretty peaceful, though I never saw Hood. I saw no one until I came down, and then I saw a stream of people coming up. Nothing says unprepared like a cotton-clad, shorts-wearing person asking "How far is it" in a cloud (especially if they've only traveled about 1/4 the distance). Also, the lake was surrounded by families, each of which was alike in their unhappiness (sorry Tolstoy!): every kid there was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and had a towel around their shoulders. Not a single kid was in the water. It was just too cold.
The next to last thing I'll say is that the sun started coming out when I left the lake, and the rhodies look pretty nice right now. Nothing else is really blooming yet. I think much of the trail above the lake has only just melted out in the last few weeks.
And the last thing I'll say is that I watched a father bring his 6-year-old son to the water. The little guy picked up a rock, and the father said "No, put that down, that's not exploring."
I wanted to toss Dad in the lake and say, "That's not exploring either, but it sure was fun!"
