The parking lot is at the top of the mountain. There is a recreational type area up there, with an ice skating rink, eateries, one larger restaurant with a full bar, some stores, and a nature type area where you can see bears, otters, etc. I think the parking lot is probably used more by employees than visitors because part of the whole experience is riding the tram up from town, but you could drive to the top and park if you wanted to. The tram operator on my last trip there said something about it could take a couple hours or so to walk up to the top. Probably less going down. But still I don't think our UID sounds dressed for taking a long hike, even though we have no idea what kind of shoes she may have worn. There are rental cabins close by plus owner-occupied residences. I would think she probably didn't disappear from a rental unless she had already checked out because I would assume LE would have connected the two events: someone disappearing from a rental with their belongings still there and this lady found under the tram.
I still think there could have originally been someone along with her who panicked and fled when she passed, maybe because they were sitting there doing drugs. Why they would steal her shoes in that case is a mystery to me, but stealing a purse seems more logical, both for possible cash and because her ID was probably in it. Maybe whoever was with her didn't want to be linked to her.
Most likely she was a visitor to the area which is why she has remained unidentified.
