Seattle Trip Part 3: Mount Rainier

On Sunday, the whole family packed into the SUV and headed down to a Seattle-Tacoma icon... Mount Rainier, aka the Floating Mountain.
On clear days you can see Rainier on the Seattle skyline, head held high like a lion on the African plains (or something more poetic than that- yechk!) Anyway, Rainier is snow, or rather glacier-capped, year round, so the rocky portions can fade into the blues of the sky and it appears as if there is a white pyramid floating above the horizon. That wasn't the case when we went, as the weather was truly spectacular.

Mount Rainier is 14,410 feet above sea level and is actually an active volcano (although it hasn't erupted for at least 100 years). Below is my family; clockwise from the left: stepmother Donna, my dad Ivan, Rufina, me, my stepbrother Joe, his son Cole and Joe's wife Michelle.

Here is a photo of Rufina and the Mountain. One note: the mountain might not look that high in these photos, but most of these photos were also taken after driving thousands of feet up the mountain, so you may only see 2/3 of the mountain in any of these photos. It is the tallest mountain I have ever seen in person (and not from a plane).

As we were coming back from a short (but STEEP) hike from the visitor's center, we came upon a spot where a few deer where feeding. Only one was outside the tree line and it was only 20-30 feet from the path where at least a half-dozen people were standing. I took this photo...

... and then proceeded to get a photo of Joe and Cole with the deer. I think my camera made a noise and startled it; the others in the bushes also retreated a bit too.

This is probably my favorite shot of the day and one of my favorites of the trip. I love using a rack technique to put flowers, etc., in focus with a large subject out of focus behind them. I guess these are purple daisies in front of Mount Rainier.

After a day of hiking (and celebrating the Dogs victory over Oklahoma State) on Saturday and several hours in the car and some hiking on Sunday, I was all tuckered out for the ride back to Seattle.


Up next: Sights from the Sound.