108. Mount Rainier

The most glaciated mountain in the contiguous 48 states is Mount Rainier in Washington. It’s a mountain that I see all the time when I go see my family in Washington. It rises 14,411 feet above sea level, so when you are in Seattle that full mountain rise is what you see. The mountain looms over the entire state, so unsurprisingly it is central on the state license plate. Because of its presence it becomes a huge symbol of all things Washington and Pacific Northwest.

It’s not a mountain I have ever tried to climb to the summit, though I have hiked various trails on its slopes. I’m not a technical climber so I haven’t wanted to deal with ropes and ice climbing. The mountain is beautiful and symbolic of so much. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is an active volcano so it inspires reverent respect, if not fear. Those of us who live in the Northwest know all too well the power of volcanoes since many of us can still vividly remember when Mount Helens blew its top.

But the mountain also represents a sense of beauty and sublimity. All across this country, and probably much of the world, people adore the staining red beauty of the delicious Rainier cherry even when most people don’t associate the cherry with its namesake mountain. And that state license plate? It’s clearly a source of pride that all Washingtonians celebrate from the desert Columbia plains to the rain forest draped Olympics. This is a mountain that never loses its snow. This is a mountain that glows with the midnight brilliance of ice and the burning magma of Vulcan, the classical god of the forge.

Not only is Rainier the uniting force of Washington from east to west, it is also representative of the dividing force of Washington from east to west. It represents that ever present Cascade curtain that divides both Washington and Oregon and makes them classic examples of all the Western States that seem to have such geographical divides.

For me Rainier represents all of those things as well as the vastness and various uniting and dividing forces of this great country of ours.  If the mountain ever underwent a name change my vote would be for Mount E Pluribus Unum. It is, out of the many, one.