When you get a nice clear day with a view of Mount Rainier, you should take full advantage of it. The mountain is often obscured by low-hanging clouds or fog. The day before, I had arrived at the hotel and there was no mountain to be seen. I only had this one full day to spend there, so I was grateful that the weather gods were kind. I like to hike, so after shooting in the very early morning, I headed out on the Skyline Trail. Very quickly, I discovered that I would not be able to traverse the length of the trail due to snow and ice. I later discovered that I was lucky to get as far as I did, as the winter set a record low snowfall. I wasn't expecting that, as it was the last week in May. I have since found out that Mount Rainier has 26 major glaciers and 36 square miles of permanent snowfields and glaciers.
I took this shot of this majestic mountain at the point that I turned around on the trail to head back to the parking lot. While I liked the color version of this photo, I think the black and white treatment brings out the details and sense of cold to me.