A close up of Mount Rainier in the distance looming over nearer green forested mountains that slope down to a valley below. Mount Rainier, or Tahoma shows only it's upper snow capped flanks, coating both rocky ridges and the surfaces of glaciers. The sky is a pale blue, with only one cloud making a puffy smudge away from Rainiers summit.
A close up of Mount Saint Helens south side with snow down to the forests on it's lower flanks. These forests did not get destroyed in the 1980 eruption like everything on the North side of the mountain. The mountain and it's lower flanks take on shades of blue because of the distance of about 30 miles. It's left side shows less features than it's right side due to the sun angle which is coming from the far left, and low. The right side shows many furrows and creases that are left overs from the scarring made by hot mud flows roaring down during the 1980 eruption. Dark exposed rocky ridgelines show more on this side as well. The foreground dense green forested mountainsides show a few rocky ridges sticking out of the forest. Long shadows lead down to the valleys below on the right flanks. The sky over the mountain is a pale blue without clouds.
A wider photo with both Mount Saint Helens (to the left), and Mount Rainier (To the right before a small alpine evergreen in the foreground). The sky over the two massive snow clad mountains is almost cloudless, except for a small cloud to the right of Mount Rainiers summit. The nearer mountainsides are almost covered in green forest, with deep shadows on their right side. The sun illumination is from the left and low. So the big mountains both show shading on the right sides. In the immediate foreground is a fairly flat area with lichen covered outcroppings of stone jutting out of the ground. Small tough shrubs poke up between the stone in patches. And a small evergreen tree is on the right edge, it's white bark is visible between sparce tough limbs that are all short and horizontal. The plants have adapted for a lot of snow and wind at this place.
One of the peaks that make up Silver Star Mountain in Washington State. The peak is very cone shaped, lit from the right, and crisscrossed by a trail switching back and forth across it's flank facing us. A little snow is visible on the cones left side in the sunlight. Above the rocky peak are faint high clouds low down in the otherwise blue sky, and a jet contrail from the upper left side to the corner upper right diagonally. A few trees are on the right slope (three). Along a foreground slope, more tall green alpine conifers descend down a shallow draw down to the right. A gray wide trail leads from the lower left into the trees, then turns toward them and disappears around a nearby corner. The while landscape is covered in low tan dormant grasses, and lighter green small brush and green moss covered stones.
I'm going to cap off the fun hike pics from Silver Star Mountain with a four pick of the surrounding mountains, and one of the peaks at Silver Star.
#hiking #Mountains #PNW #Rainier #Tahoma #MtStHelens #Alpine #Snow #Forests #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #CascadeMountains #Volcanos #Geology 🧪 🏔️
