Mt. Hood is my backyard. Once you look over a few of those cliffs and get above alpine and realize the vastness of that area...even though you can see Portland from the West side....you pack more than water and candybars.
As for our latest fast and light Mt. Hood Darwin award recipients, they chose to hike between the two biggest storms of the year. Those two storms were only about 24 hours apart, maybe a little less. I know, the snow at the ski resort was epic. And even half way down the mountain, you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. Chases all the fair weather riders off before noon, good times.
My daypack list mirrors mgdavis pretty closely and I would recommend that much gear nearly year round in the PNW if you plan to go above timberline or near it. Maybe not so much fleece if you know the 3 day weather forecast, but otherwise, that's a light pack in all but the summer months.
Alpine region on Yocum ridge, trail about 1000 vertical or more below where this pic was taken. That's Illumination rock on the right side and Sandy Glacier in the valley behind me. Also, about a 2-300 foot cliff two steps to the right. This was not a day hike, but the region is accessible as one if you get an early start.
