Visiting Mount Rainier is always a spiritual experience for me. The highest mountain in the Cascade mountain range is actually considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Its proximity to Seattle makes it one of the sixteen volcanoes on the "Decade Volcano" list. Rainier is also the heaviest glaciated mountains in the continental US with 26 glaciers. All in all, one impressive peak.
I visited Rainier in May 2015 and was fortunate to have a sunny day for my very short stay. Typically, I would have been unable to hike some of the trails, but the snow in the previous winter set a record for the least snowfall. I was able to hike a good portion of the Skyline Trail before running into snow and ice. Before my hike, I headed down to Reflection Lake to get some sunrise photos of the mountain. On my way back, I pulled over to take some road shots. I was by myself, so shooting from the middle of the road had to be done quickly, but I was lucky that there was hardly anyone on the road.