Wordless Wednesdays: 12 Views of a Sunset from 6 Miles High through an Airplane Window

 

Six Views of Mount Rainier

View of Mount Rainier from the terrace of the Summit House Restaurant at Crystal Mountain Resort

This post calls to mind Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, his series of woodblock prints.  Mount Rainier has a similar pull on artists.  For example, Tacoma woodblock artist, Chandler O’Leary, created her own limited edition fine art book with views of Mount Rainier — it’s called Local Conditions.

On a recent clear summer day, I took my niece on a drive to Mount Rainier.  The air was calm and clear, so our views of Mount Rainier were spectacular.  We enjoyed the golden glow of the peak at sunrise at Sunrise, distant views from the road, reflected views in Tipsoo Lake, and a high view from the Summit House Restaurant at Crystal Mountain Resort (accessible by gondola ride).  I had also just seen a high altitude view from my airplane window when I was returning from Minnesota.  Let me share these views of Mount Rainier here:

Floating in the clouds, Mount Rainier from an airplane window

Gold-tinted mountain at sunrise from Sunrise Point, Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier with alpine flowers, Sunrise

View of Mount Rainier with White River from Crystal Mountain Resort

Mount Rainier reflected in Tipsoo Lake

“The mountains are playing at standing on their heads, and their reflections are even lovelier than the reality.  The water’s depth and mystery impart vibrancy to the images, and the trembling of the surface conjures visions at the edge of a dream.”
— Sylvain Tesson, The Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale