We started at 9 AM with a couple friends, Terry and Kathleen, not knowing quite what to expect as to whether the the trail had melted out enough to cross the avalanche gullies. The trail was completely dry crossing the first gully, but the larger second gully (the big one) at about 3,600' was still snow covered. We could see where others had crossed and the snow seemed quite solid, but we elected to go up the side of the gully anyway. It was good practice for kicking steps and Terry is attempting Rainier next weekend (good luck, Terry!). So, it was good training for him, not to mention the 40 pound pack he was carrying! Up and up we went, following the footsteps of others who had taken this route. Unfortunately, whomever made the steps had longer legs than us, so we had to kick some of our own steps in addition to the ones that were there. The views just kept getting better as we ascended and the clouds burned off. We hit the ridge crest at about 5,400' and then turned left and slogged our way up the remaining 200 feet to the lookout Tower. Total ascent time was about 3 hours. By that time, it was pretty much just some lower scattered clouds and we enjoyed great views as we ate lunch. The top of Rainier was clearly visible to the south, as were much of the Cascades to the East and North. After an hour or so, we headed back down. We found out from some others that the main trail was open, so we descended that way, not wanting to descend the steep snow slope. The main summit ridge is still covered in deep snow, so we enjoyed plunge-stepping our way down that, and even got in a nice glissade before picking up the trail. At first, the trail was snow covered in a few places and we had to traverse across the snow in two or three steep places. Watch out for holes as the snow continues to melt over the next few weeks. Other than that, the trail is in pretty good shape. Back down at about 3,600' we crossed the avalanche gully. As we expected, the snow is well consolidated and should be fairly safe, barring any unusual weather. As it melts out, more holes will open up, but it should be manageable. We got down in about 2 hours total. Great hike, great weather, lots of fun!