Little Tahoma of Mount Rainier straddles four glacial masses, including Fryingpan Glacier. It lies east of the renowned Columbia Crest. Moreover, Meany Crest via Summerland Trail reaches this subpeak directly.
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Little Tahoma at a Glance
Access: Summerland Trailhead
Round Trip: 16 miles
Elevation Range: 3840′-11138′
Gear: helmet, ice ax, crampons, snowshoes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: no pets
Little Tahoma
The peak has been on my list for a while, but it finally happened today! I exercised the pups the day before so I could climb today. But the iffy forecast over Memorial Day weekend almost made me scratch the plan.
Since most people rope up through Fryingpan Glacier, I enlisted Anne. Since it was still early, snow conditions were hit or miss. Then I experienced AMS at 10k feet since it first happened at Camp Muir and Lunch Counter on Mount Adams.
![Meany Crest from Summerland Trail](https://live.staticflickr.com/8768/18121683526_ead8fd4bdf_k.jpg")
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Summerland Trail to Meany Crest
Snow appeared right before we reached Summerland. But glad that it wasn’t slushy, and crampons worked out quite well through this part. Soon, we climbed up to Meany Crest, which was quite an effective workout!
We put on snowshoes past Meany Crest and continued through Fryingpan Glacier. Then we wore them through to the top of the steep snow above Whitman Glacier. We stashed the gear there when we finally reached the dry rocks below the top.
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Little Tahoma Summit Views
My favorite part was going through the rocks, which was so much fun. Then we climbed up to the summit without a hitch. Glad the clouds stayed low today to enjoy the views, including the massive Mount Rainier right in our faces.
On the way down, we checked out the master suite camp spot on Meany Crest. We both said how nice it would’ve been to spend the night there. Because, you know, we could then brag about how we had it all to ourselves.
See more trip photos here.