Mt Rainier is the highest peak in the Cascade Range. It rises to 14,410 feet above sea level and dominates the Pacific Northwest sky. It’s visible from Vancouver, British Columbia to Portland, Oregon.
It's always a delight when I’m driving around the Northwest and catch an unexpected glimpse or a stunning view of this majestic mountain. Today I’m driving back to Kent from Federal Way. It’s almost 4:00 pm so traffic is an issue. Fortunately I know the back roads and avoid the freeways.
The sun is out, it's a beautiful afternoon. I head for Peasley Canyon then to Mountain View Cemetery hoping for a photo opportunity. The cemetery sits high on the hill overlooking Auburn and the Green River Valley. Directly across the road is a small view point park at the very edge of the bluff with stunning views of Mt Rainier.
The history surrounding Mt Rainier is fascinating. Captain George Vancouver discovered Mt Rainier exploring the Puget Sound in 1792 and named it after his pal Admiral Peter Rainier, Jr. Yet for thousands of years before that the mountain was a sacred place and important to many regional tribes including the Cowlitz, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Squazin, and the Yakama.
Human activity in the lowlands dates back 15,000 years and evidence of hunting camps, charred bones, arrows, cooking hearths, and stone storage pits have been found that date back 4,000 years. The coastal tribes referred to Mt Tacoma as the “mother of rivers” and the “white sentinel”. She is mother to the Carbon, White, Cowlitz, Nisqually, and Puyallup rivers.
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