Chasing The Mountain

I've been obsessed with our local landmark lately... probably because it's not be visible for days. It's easy to feel withdrawal symptoms when Mount Rainier hides behind its curtain of clouds. At 14,411 feet, it makes its own weather, so even on clear days down here in the lowlands, the mountain can still be shrouded in clouds.

But worse in my eyes are the ever-shrinking viewpoints where you can see The Mountain in a natural setting. I appreciate being able to see it from the freeway, from the Seattle waterfront, from surface roads lined with powerlines. I love seeing it from the Vashon ferry, too. But for me, it's best seen cradled in the foothills, with trees and pastureland spreading out in the foreground.

Mount Rainier in early morning from the Enumclaw plateau, with fresh snow in the foothills

So that's my goal for the next few sunny days: to explore the back roads past the blight of suburbia, but still reasonably close to home. And find those perfect vantage points where I can photograph our mountain to my heart's content.