For the Trip 7 team, trip leader Hiro reports:
“Happy 5th PasstoPass anniversary to our assistant trip leader George. He is enjoying the same trail he backpacked five years ago.
“We are camping at a gorgeous meadow with a spectacular view of Tower Mountain. Some team members took a short day hike to Snowy Lake and enjoyed swimming.”
Summitpost.org says of Tower Mountain: “As with many of Washington’s highest mountains, Tower Mountain is part of a pair. It shares an east-west trending ridge with nearby Golden Horn. … It’s located on the Cascade crest between three major drainages, including Pine, Swamp, and Cataract creeks. In terms of rank, Tower Mountain has many respectable qualities. With 2,884 feet of clean prominence and a height of 8,444 feet, it is both the 66th most prominent peak and 66th highest peak in Washington. Furthermore, it is the 36th steepest peak in the state.”
Trip 3 Update
The Trip 3 team left Anderson Lake just before 10 a.m. Friday morning. Llamas and lead hikers arrived at tonight’s campsite – a lovely meadow near Crag Lake – by 3 p.m. Today’s statistics: 6.4 miles. Elevation: 5,312 feet. Total up: 1,136 feet. Total down: 1,235 feet.
Trip 3 assistant leader Eric reports:
“Spectacular day. Spectacular views – Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens were all out and glorious. Beautiful camp with no neighbors.”
“We’ve left the day hikers behind, and met a number of very interesting and friendly thru hikers.
“Several Trip 3 hikers enjoyed wading in the warm waters of our lakes. Phil and Alex went swimming.
“The evenings and nights have been much cooler than many of us planned for.
“The llamas are well trained and doing a great job for us. However, one llama keeps stepping on the heels of the person leading him and broke a trekking pole. We’ve also had a couple llama ropes break.
“Alex had the idea of creating a banner – possibly with a hashtag or a QR code – to be carried by the llamas to advertise PasstoPass and the website. Many people along the trail are interested.”
While PasstoPass hikers have business cards with a QR code to share, many thru hikers want to take a picture versus take a business card so they do not have more to carry.
