2017.06: Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

Location: Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

Date: 2017.06

Photographer: Jesen

Camera: Nikon

Retouch: Adobe Photoshop

Copyright: www.haomingxiong.com

Emblazoned on every Washington license plate and visible throughout much of the western state, Mt Rainier is the contiguous USA’s fifth-highest peak and, in the eyes of many, its most awe-inspiring.

Beneath Rainier’s volatile exterior, even darker forces fester. As an active stratovolcano that recorded its last eruptive activity as recently as 1854, Rainier harnesses untold destructive powers that, if provoked, could threaten downtown Seattle with mudslides and cause tsunamis in Puget Sound. Not surprisingly, the mountain has long been imbued with myth.

The Native Americans called the mountain Tahoma or Tacoma, meaning the ‘mother of waters;’ George Vancouver named it Rainier in honor of his colleague and friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier; while most Seattleites refer to it reverently as ‘the Mountain’ and forecast the weather by its visibility.

JESEN Photo