Today on Monday Mysteries we take a look at something that is puzzling me here in Seattle: why is it so hard to spot Mt. Rainer?

I mean, let’s consider what it says about Mt. Rainer in Wikipedia:

Mount Rainier, Mount Tacoma, or Mount Tahoma is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the state of Washington. It is a large active stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) south-southeast of Seattle. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m).  — From the Wikipedia entry

In other words, it’s big.

And indeed, if and when you do catch site of it, it’s not just an “oh, there’s a mountain” moment. It’s more of a, “Whoa — it’s a mountain!”.

The problem is catching site of it at all. What I hadn’t fully appreciated before is that Seattle is very hilly. Seattle turns out to be just as hilly as San Francisco, IMHO. As a result, apparently most of the time you’re not in a spot that is high enough to look over the next hill or two to see Mt. Rainer off in the distance. I mean, even if you’re on top of a hill, apparently you’re still in too much of a valley with respect to Mt. Rainer to see it.

Yes, I realize that doesn’t make much sense, but seriously, we’ve been here now 6 weeks and we’ve seen Mt. Rainer exactly three times, despite being at the tops of various hills around here more than that.

OK, right, well, some of those early weeks it was raining and/or cloudy all the time, and I will accept that Mt. Rainer might be shrouded in clouds much of the time.  But the weird part is that you can’t see it even on a sunny day, unless you’re in exactly the right spot. Which just seems odd. It’s BIG. It’s “the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous united states.”  It should be easier to see, IMHO.

Two weeks ago we were in the Olympic sculpture garden on a mostly sunny day.  As I took a photo of the Olympic mountains off in the distance, I suddenly realized that the clouds to my left had parted a little to reveal that one cloud clump was actually the top of Rainer.  Whoa – it’s a mountain! But the photo I snapped doesn’t necessarily convey that to you, the viewer who wasn’t there.  I’ve included 3 versions: one cropped one where the mountain location is marked in pink, one cropped one so you can see the mountain in a normal color, and then the full photo.

Mt. Rainer from Olympic Sculpture Park – position marked in pink

Mt. Rainer from Olympic Sculpture Park – same position, not in pink

Mt. Rainer from Olympic Sculpture Park – same position, not cropped

I know, I know – it’s hard to tell that’s really a mountain and not just a large set of clouds. I’m starting to wonder if Mt. Rainer is like Brigadoon, although Brigadoon for us in the past was a castle, not a mountain or town. ) But perhaps if you believe in the mountain, you will see the mountain.

OK, I’m joking, but only just a little.  It actually reminds me of something similar that happened to me with a  mountain many, many years ago when I lived in Tokyo. I used to go to vantage points there where people said you could catch sight of Mt. Fuji. But I never did see Fuji from those places.

Then I took a train one day to a town that was supposed to have great views of Mt. Fuji. But it was cloudy that day, and the guide said something like, “Over there you can see Mt. Fuji. Only … not today. ” Right. I decided that Mt. Fuji was perhaps just a myth, or a fancy projection or backdrop that was brought out only for a chosen few. It turned into a running joke for me that whole year, actually. Whenever I went with someone who said that they would “guarantee” we would see Mt. Fuji that day, I still never saw it. Ultimately, I think I did managed a tiny glimpse once. For a moment. But even now I’m not sure I really saw at all.

Perhaps I just didn’t believe in the mountain…

But I digress. Well, sort of; I mean, I believe in the mountain now, and I have actually seen Mt. Rainer. But I’m just finding it really disconcerting that it seems to go missing so easily from so many seeming vantage points here in Seattle.

Now, over the weekend we went to Discover Park, another place in Seattle. From a lookout point there I did spot Mt. Rainer once again.  Yay!

But the photo I took makes it look very tiny, even though in person it didn’t seem small. Take a look:

Mt. Rainer from Discover Park (cropped)

Mt. Rainer from Discover Park (less cropped)

Mt. Rainer from Discover Park (not cropped)

See how small it looks in the uncropped photo? Strange. Let’s call that a continuing Monday mystery…