When you live in Washington, you learn that a volcano can hide. Mt. Rainier, a dormant volcano that towers over western Washington, often hides behind clouds, fog, or a wall of rain. You can easily forget that its there for a week at a time, and sometimes an entire winter. Then, one day, you’ll be driving and turn a corner and WHAMMO you see the mountain. That’s how you know that the weather is REALLY clear and beautiful. People here will tell you, “The Mountain is Out!” means “Holy Heck – Get outside!”. Well, I had a bunch of plans this weekend and I ended up putting them off to head to Paradise Park in Mt. Rainier National Park with the kids and a friend. I took a big handful of photos, and they all made me proud to say that I took them. These are two favorites. The first, clearly, is the mountain. The second is a hoary marmot. My friend knew what it was when we pulled over to take pictures of him on the side of the road. I just thought “furry!” and that was good enough for me. This little guy gave me the eye, but stood still as long as I moved slowly and kept my yap shut. Hey Mr. Marmot, say “Cheese!” Thanks for your patience this weekend Katie, with me, the kids, the drive, and the photography, you are a trooper for hanging in the way you did.
Meta Information:
Rainier was taken with my Canon Rebel T2i at f/10 for 1/500 sec in ISO-320 at 20mm with no flash. This photo has not been photoshopped other than adding my watermark.
Marmot was taken on a Canon Rebel T2i at f/5.6 for 1/80 sec in ISO-160 at 55mm with no flash. This shot is straight out of my camera.
