White River Sunrise, Mount Rainier National Park

I just got back this afternoon from a weekend long trip to Mount Rainier National Park. I had to make a solo trip as my wife was out of town, but since that meant I'd only be annoying myself by waking up at 4:30AM I decided to catch the sunrise both days. This was my view of sunrise this morning, along the White River on the east side of Rainier.

I took this opportunity to visit the eastern side of the park which is actually aptly known as "Sunrise". As this was my first time to this side of the park (due to elevation it's only accessible a few months each year) so I was simultaneously shooting, and scouting locations for sunrise shots from the time I arrived. I drove past the White River on Friday evening when I got into the park on my way to the White River campground (about 1/10 mile past where I shot this) - they were full, but I noted the location. On Saturday afternoon I returned to wander the site a bit and look for possible locations to come the next morning.

The clouds looked heavy from the time it got light enough to see them, and I was afraid Mount Rainier would be lost in them, as it so often is. But once I got to this spot Rainier was almost entirely visible, with only this one cloud blocking the view - it dissipated shortly after this was taken, but that was after the pink alpenglow had faded as well.

I chose to share this shot first as I particularly liked the colors (it particularly reminds me of Yosemite, shooting along the Merced). I have additional shots from this morning that I probably prefer from a compositional perspective, but this was my closest zoom on Mount Rainier itself from here, and upon reviewing the shots felt it warranted leading off with this.

Many more photos will follow feature Rainier, Glaciers, Meadows, Wildflowers, Glacial Rivers, Tundra, Fog, Lakes, Forests - for being in the park less than two full days, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and found plenty to focus on.

Nikon D90 | Nikon 18-200VR@38mm | f/16 | 1s | ISO100 | Tripod | NDGrad

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