Living in Oak Harbor, Washington for well over thirty years I have come to learn of an expression that I have taken hold of for my own. The expression is Today is a Rainier day. What this means is that the sky was clear enough for those of us in Oak Harbor to see Mount Rainier which is one hundred and seven miles to the south, that is as the crow flies.

That being said, Rainier Days in Oak Harbor do not come very often due to the air pollution rising from the cities south of the island. Too, most days in the Pacific North West are overcast, rainy or just plain cloudy and to see Mount Rainier would require it to be a remarkably clear day.

Still, I would keep on the lookout for the few Rainier Days, camera always ready and take photos when I do see the mountain out. This has lead to a small collection of photos taken from the city beach in Oak Harbor.

Further, there has been several times when my travels have brought me into close proximity to this majestic mountain.

Elevation: 14,411 feet (4392 m)

Prominence: 13,210 feet (4026 m)

Coordinates: 46.8523, -121.7603 (Columbia Crest)

Last Eruption: 1894 CE, 1450 CE

Nearest City: Seattle, Washington is 54 miles to northwest

Range: Rainier is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc

Summits: Liberty Cap, Point Success, Columbia Crest

First Climbed: 1870

Number who attempt to summit: 10K-13K per year with about half summiting

Age: 500,000 year old

Native Name: Tahoma, Tacoma, Talol

A small crater lake some 130 feet by 30 feet and 16 feet deep located at an elevation of 14,203 feet is the the highest lake in North America, occupies the lowest portion of the west crater, is under more than 100 feet of ice and accessible only by way of the ice caves.

Rainier is a typical glaciated stratovolcano with 27 major glaciers and 35 square miles (90 square km) of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states.

Emmons Glacier at 4.3 square miles (11.1 sq. km) has the largest surface area of any glacier in the contiguous 48 state.

Carbon Glacier has the greatest length (5.7 miles), greatest thickness (700 feet), greatest volume (.2 cubic miles) and lowest terminus altitude (3600 feet) of all the glaciers in the contiguous 48 states.

Volcanic geothermal heat keeps areas of both crater rim surfaces free of snow and ice which has, under the glacier covered summit of Mount Rainier, resulted in the formation of the largest volcanic glacier cave network in the world consisting of almost 2 miles of ice cave passages.

Rainier is known by the Salishan speaking people as Talol. Others called the mountain Takoma or Tacoma. It is believed that in the ancient languages, ta means large and Koma is Mount Baker.

Therefore, Tacoma would means Larger than Mount Baker. In fact, both Mount Rainier and Mount Tacoma are names that have been used for this mountain.

After the 2015 restoration of the original name Denali to Mount McKinley in Alaska, debate over restoring Mount Rainier to its original name has intensified.

In the area around what is today Mount Rainier National Park, those who were once known as the Sons of Hadoram, who are now known as the Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin Island, Muckleshoot, Yakima, Cowlitz and other tribes all used the natural resources surrounding the mountain they called by the name Takhoma.

Just Because it′s There

Established: March 2, 1899 as the Fifth U.S. National Park.

Area: 369 square miles, 236,381 acres, 956 square kilometers

Wilderness Area: 97% wilderness, 3% National Hist. Landmark Distric

About 2 million people visit Mount Rainier national park each year

The national park has over 260 miles (420 km) of maintained trails and 147 miles (237 km) of roads. The Wonderland trail is a 93 mile footpath that circumnavigates Mount Rainier, built in 1915 and designated a National Recreation Trail in 1981.

The Skyline Trail which begins near Paradise Ranger Station is a 5.5 mile loop trail over some of the most spectacular scenery in the park. From this trail, there are beautiful displays of subalpine wildflowers, close-up look or Mount Rainier and the Nisqually Glacier, and, on clear days the view expands to peaks as far south as Mount Hood in Oregon.

My path today takes me first westward out of Yakima on US 12, leave the Columbia Plateau ecoregion of the Basin and Range region where I have for such a long time been dwelling and enter into the Cascade Mountains ecoregion of the Pacific Coast region, coming into the back door of the Mount Rainier National Park.

After driving through Chinook pass and under the PCT overbridge, I soon begin to catch glimpses of Mount Rainier and begin my photo shoot of this massive volcano.

While spending time in Oak Harbor working on a couple of projects, I sometimes take some time off to go to city beach in hopes of seeing Mount Rainier. Some days it is a Rainier Day, sometimes it is not one.