The third attempt at Mount Hood proved to be the ‘charm’. EJ and I started up at 3:00 a.m. and made steady progress to the top of the Palmer lift which we arrived at a little after 6:00 a.m. The climb from the Palmer lift to the base of the Hogback presented limited visibility but once we headed up the final push the weather cleared up and we were blessed with a cloud free sky with mild winds from the south. We made the summit at around 8:00 a.m. and enjoyed the view for 15 minutes before heading down. We elected not to rope up for the descent which allowed us to move quickly. We arrived at the parking lot at 10:45 for a 6:45 minute day. To access the summit we elected to take the Old Crater variation.