Never been, did Kautz glacier last year. I would like something challenging to do in one day and stay away from the crowds...Leuthold maybe?

Reid Glacier Headwall is probably slightly less crowded than Leuthold's and was fun, you can always head for Leutholds and change plan to Reid. North Face is a fun route, although the approach takes a little longer than the south/west side stuff.

In july?

July is a little late for basically any technical route on Hood, as the stuff that makes it technical will all be exposed and actively melting. Not to say you can't do them... it's just generally considered sub-optimal. That said, I've been on the mountain in late season, and it was a little dodgy, but if you can find a cold, clear night and get a true alpine start, the big benefit of a mid-summer climb is SPEED. You move really fast on hard snow and light packs... this gets you through the worst spots early and quickly.

You can bet I'll be doing the rounds on the mountain this summer... oh hell yes.

thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll pick another climb and save hood for the spring...

I would recommend the same route as well, very hard to say since the snow melt on the mountain can cause avalanches at any time. If your looking to stay safe, I would say mid-spring, there is less storms during that time of year. If your looking for a climbing time somewhere in the summer, take anywhere in June to early July. The avalanche danger is much too high in August.

While wet-slide avalanches CAN happen any time of year, we're talking about a white-squall. August on the Cascades is as stable as that range ever gets. It's so stable, the Northwest Avalanche Center closes down from like June-November.

Cooper spur or sunshine are fun and relatively quick routes to do in july. both can have semi-challenging shrund crossings. it will be a long day if you don't ski.