This story is about the famous, massive, active volcano that is just chilling in our backyard, her name is Mount Rainier.

Rainier has the highest peak in the Cascade Range at 14,410 feet, and is the centerpiece of Mount Rainier National Park, which is famous for its ancient forests, subalpine wildflowers, and extensive glaciers.

Taking this trip to the mountain was something that I have wanted to do for many years now. The history behind it all and the voyages that are carried out really makes you wonder.

In the wide shot of the mountain I wanted to capture the essence of what surrounds the massive volcano. It is surrounded by such beauty, with so much green hugging all sides of the active volcano. There is an abundance of life around it, even though it could wipe it away any second or at any time.

There honestly is nothing like it. We see a mix of snow covered landscape, lush greens, and rivers of gray boulders. With all of the color, and you can tell there is just so much life. The mountain attracts and nurtures the life of the Northwest.

As we begin to zoom in on the beauty of the mountain, the life we first saw dwindles away, the color vanishes. All we are now looking at is the snow-covered peak, with small families of evergreen trees.

The brightest color there is now is the blue sky from up high. Admiring something with such beauty yet so much power of destruction is quite astonishing. As we get closer we see the details of the mountain and not only that, but realistically how large it is.

Now reaching the peak, there’s nothing but snow and rock. It is still and quiet, as though it is like powdered sugar that has been left untouched. Never being so close to the peak, it felt surreal being able to see it (and almost feel it.)

You begin to ponder what life lives up there in a peak of stillness. The only thing we could see moving was the cloud overhead, other than that, no life whatsoever. Even though lifeless and still we admire the essence of its magnificence for our state.

I wonder to myself, how is it possible we live right next to an active volcano, yet we are not afraid of it or its presence, but instead find it sort of peaceful? How did Washington folks choose to settle right next to the mountain, even when they had no clue when or if it would erupt?

In this photo story I wanted to show the stages of the mountain where at the bottom of it you can find all things we see on a daily basis, yet as we reach higher levels, things start to change. The mountain became more ridged and seemingly untouchable.

This story was mainly to admire the magnificent Mount Rainier – something we are lucky enough to have in our backyard and get to admire in our sightline from all over the greater Seattle area.