As noted previously, I don’t expect to be able to actually convey Mt Rainier to my readers, but I would be remiss if I didn’t try to capture some sense of the scale of the mountain, a sense that is immediately transmitted to anyone who starts out to hike by their legs.
The trail behind the lodge begins here, and it doesn’t take long before you realize just how high this mountain really is even at here below tree line. The trail is not for the faint-of-heart, as this beginning stretch clearly announces.
Once you reach the first ridge line, all it takes is a quick glance up to realize that you’ve really just begun to climb,
and a quick glimpse across the valley shows just how formidable this mountain really is,
dwarfing those who hike it,
like this unknown hiker in the valley below as seen through my telephoto lens.