Mount Rainier and the South Cascades
Native gods of fire reign on high, icy thrones over the far-flung ranges of the Cascades. From northern California well into British Columbia, enormous volcanic pyramids perpetually sheathed in brilliant glacier ice shine out like beacons along the craggy crestline of the Cascade Mountains, at intervals far too regular to be coincidental. The unceasing motion of Earth's jigsaw puzzle of tectonic plates continually forces the hot magmatic interior of the planet to erupt onto the surface along this volcanic arc - part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Unchallenged king of the Cascades is Mount Rainier, symbol of the Pacific Northwest and icy jewel in the crown of America's National Park system. Surrounded by the rugged ridges and summits of the South Cascades, and draped with a colorful lei of wildflower meadows, "The Mountain" reminds everyone living in its shadow what a tenuous hold our own species has on this restless edge of the continent. It is only a matter of time before these monsters erupt again with the devastating force exhibited by Mount Saint Helens on May 18, 1980. The cycle of eruption always attempts to rebuild what the icy glacial knives have torn away, leaving such fire giants as Mount Adams scarred from the elemental battle of their long lives.
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