Tahoma / Mount Rainier National Park


Tahoma, or Mount Rainier, is the largest of several stratovolcanoes in the Cascade mountains that dominates the landscape I grew up in. Mount Rainier National Park is a true wonderland of trails and opportunities that encompasses Tahoma and grants access to all the stunning landscapes created by the volcano. Glaciers, sub-alpine meadows, old growth forests, tundra-like alpine areas, and rivers raging with snowmelt wreath this place with meaning and power. People travel from all over the planet to climb to the mountain's summit, backpack around its circumference, or to simply witness the many aspects of Tahoma's diverse faces.


I lived up at the Sunrise area for 3 summer seasons when I worked there for Discover Your Northwest in 2008, 2011, and 2012. I summited the mountain and walked the Wonderland trail in 2013, and have visited in many seasons since. It is a place I always return to, and I hope you enjoy this selection of photographs from Mount Rainier National Park over the years.

 

A tree framed portrait of Tahoma, or Mount Rainier, a massive glaciated volcano, with blue sky behind and summer's snow-free forests below.
A rushing view of the Ohanapecosh river as it rushes over a ledge near Silver Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.
A dramatic sunrise view of sunlit glacier and a peak called Little Tahoma standing above a layered sea of clouds on Mount Rainier.
A partly cloudy day near a nice sub-alpine lake with a big fallen dead tree stretching into it in Mount Rainier National Park.
The North Blockhouse structure which serves partially as ranger housing at Sunrise, in Mount Rainier National Park.
Closeup of a Hoary Marmot, the type local to Mount Rainier National Park, as it looks off to the left.
A blue steam cave on the summit of Mount Rainier carved out of ice with the rock below leaving only several feet of open space.
Spray Falls, a large waterfall in a valley in Mount Rainier National Park, the falls is wide and the surrounding area is verdant green.
A glaciated view from high on Tahoma that shows a unique phenomenon: the shadow the mountain carves out of the pink sky itself at sunset.
Pink sunrise light dramatically hits Mount Rainier with a field of lupine flowers in the foreground and crisscrossed clouds above.
Steamboat Prow is a cliff that rises above Camp Schurman and here hosts a tiny figure raising their arms in celebration against the sky.
A long exposure capture of a dramatic fork of lightning that fanned across above the summit of Little Tahoma, captured from the Day Lodge.
A lovely cliff lit by soft light and green ground cover near Emerald Ridge on Mount Rainier.
A closeup of a stunning wilting trillium flower in Mount Rainier National Park that has turned a lovely purple plum color.
Stormy clouds gather above Mount Rainier in this view from near Camp Schurman that shows watermelon algea on the Winthrop glacier.
A view through a portal of clouds of the Emmons glacier on the north side of Mount Rainier, seen from Mt. Ruth, a rocky climbers trail.
A high altitude view from near Camp Schurman of the Winthrop glacier sliding down above a sea of clouds lit by sunrise on Mount Rainier.
A foggy late day view of a snow bridge near Camp Schurman on Mount Rainier, one of the high camps for climbing the mountain.
A peachy sunset view from the Emmons glacier near Camp Schurman with Little Tahoma on right right and the shadow of the mountain in the sky.
A varied landscape of a bank of moss with grass atop it, a snow-wreathed stream, and the huge glaciated rocky flanks of Mount Rainier.
A sunrise view of Mt. Adams from the summit of Mount Rainier, with a ridge of narrow rock that lines one of the summit craters.
A moody cloudy day at Mount Rainier, the mountain is seen from high on Sourdough Ridge near Sunrise, with sub-alpine fields below.
A summertime view of Little Tahoma and the summit of Mount Rainier, from an angle that places the summit lower with a bright snowy ridge.
A dramatic red cloud and orange horizon sunset with the dark peak of Little Tahoma and the Emmons glacier below on Mount Rainier.
A tall fir tree stands in the mist with a forested hillside angling up into the clouds in the background, in Mount Rainier National Park.
A closeup of a delicately perched lichen on a tree in Mount Rainier National Park.
A foggy rich green forest with a rocky trail along the Wonderland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park.
A closeup of deep purple lupine flowers framed by closer out of focus lupine with a rocky snowfield out of focus in the background.
A juvenile grey jay sits on a branch of a tree that also hosts various lichens, in Mount Rainier National Park.
A veil of clouds encroaches upon a massive valley carved by the Emmons glacier on the north side of Mount Rainier.
A dark closeup of a branch with moss and another plant growing on it in front of the bough of a cedar tree in Mount Rainier National Park.
A bright midday view of the north side of Mount Rainier or Tahoma from Third Burroughs; glaciers extend to either side of a rocky ridge.
A colorful bright orange and yellow fruiting body of a mushroom in Mount Rainier National Park.
A view looking north from high on the Winthrop glacier on Mount Rainier. A cloud bank and the North Cascades are in the vast distance.
A sunlit rocky hillside near Indian Bar in Mount Rainier National Park.
A sunrise view from the sunrise area of Mount Rainier, with dark sub-alpine hills in the foreground below the summit lit up a bright pink.
A sunrise view of a textured dead tree snag, with rocky meadows out of focus below.
A rocky trail proceeds towards tall cliffs along a trail in Mount Rainier National Park, with a meadowy hillside coming down from the left.
A telephoto view of Mount Rainier from the south in the early season, with bending trees in the foreground.
A view looking up towards a foggy sunrise-lit Mount Rainier with treeless slopes of snow and rock above rich mossy rock above Spray Park.
An ice-locked lake on Mount Rainier sits with large floating blocks of ice on the edge of a snowfield. A hiker walks up the rocky hill.
A snowy early spring view of a beautiful cliff near Emerald Ridge on the side of Tahoma, a large mountain.
A close up of a false hellebore plant that is beginning to fray at the end of a summer season in Mount Rainier National Park.
A view towards the summit of Mount Rainier from Steamboat Prow, showing the huge Winthrop and Emmons glaciers and blue sky above.
A whorl of rotting end of season false hellebore leaves lit up by the late summer sun in Mount Rainier National Park.
A view of ridges and peaks in Mount Rainier National Park as well as a large sub alpine meadow, with thick clouds pooling all around.
A close-up of a deep Magenta Indian Paintbrush flower with an out of focus background, in Mount Rainier National Park.
A high elevation view of tall cliffs at sunset from near Camp Schurman on Mount Rainier, peachy sky and dark mountains in foreground.
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