7/15. 98°F in the city! 4 of us met at Gateway TC at 6:30am. Started hiking at 8am at Top Spur TH. 
McNeil Point is one of my favorite hikes in Mt Hood, especially when heather is in full bloom. Less than half an hour in, took PCT for Bald Mountain, which broke out to a baldy slope With this view. Then loose a little elevation, until the cutoff to go back. There's now has a proper sign! Back on Timberline, gaining more elevation, reached a ridge and a couple of baldy slopes like Bald Mt. A lot of beargrass, but few were in bloom. Saw ~7 Washington Lily.
Less than 5 minutes into the woods again, we took this cutoff, up a steep slope full of corn lily, and later rockey zigzag. It's maybe 3/4 mile, but steep. Soon, you see Rainier. Half an hour on this slope, I emerged suddenly at McNeil shelter by 10am. 
The meadows around are full of pasque flower's seeds. Slightly higher up has a lot of mariposa lily. View of St Helens, Rainier, Adams, and Dollar Lake fire to the north. We decided to follow the boot track up for a bit. Saw a runner running down. 
Saw 2 walled tent sites first, then a single one. We had an early lunch above these, soaking up the view. We had the whole place to ourselves. There were 2 snow patches left for those decided to camp here tonight. Priyanka brought binocular. We looked for Rick Johnston, who was hosting a meetup to Snow Dragon cave, this weekend. The access seems suicidal to me.
Around 11am, we hiked down to the shelter and then followed the regular trail out, passing heather meadows. Pink, but not in full bloom like when I saw them 5 years ago. Maybe 1 week too early? The trail passes a couple of streams, if you need to filter water. Back down to Timberline/McNeil junction at 11:30.Timberline trail passes one pond and another almost dried up pond, a few small creeks, and one small sloping meadow with shooting stars. ~11:55, we hit the cutoff we took earlier to go up. Guess who we met on the trail in the woods? Rick and Andy with their giant backpacks. Rick was resting, and Andy was dancing to avoid the flies. They camped at McNeil Point Saturday night. Didn't go to Snow Dragon, after seeing how melted everything is. Oh, did I mention flies? Lots of them.
Back to the car at 1pm. Back at home at 3pm, 97° and climbing. Total about 9 miles, maybe 2500'.
