Two years ago, I was in one of my favorite places in the U.S. — the Pacific Northwest. It feels traitorous of me to say that, given my Southern roots, but my husband, who is from Olympia, Washington, has converted me into an avid lover of that temperate, misty, beautifully green region. I’m especially in favor of it right about now, when I’m pretty done with 100+ degree temperatures across eastern North Carolina.

So today, I want to be in a place where snow remains all year long, no matter how warm of a summer the region gets. And Mount Rainier usually lives up to that. But warm or cold, rain or shine, Rainier boasts a mountain so high, and scenery so breathtaking, it doesn’t really matter what the weather is. Its shifting moods are always majestic.

On this trip, we were hiking in the lower part of Mt. Rainier National Park, after being disappointed by cloud cover at the top. Rainier is a big tease, and loves to hide behind the clouds.

With the peak shrouded for most of our visit, I’d almost given up hope that we’d catch her unveiled.

It was only as we were just about to leave that the sun came streaming down, the sky turned a brilliant blue, and the clouds floated away — revealing the snowy peak in all its glory. Nothing like a complete turnaround from grey and brooding to bright and snowy to restore your faith in beauty and adventure.

It doesn’t matter how many times I get lucky with Rainier, I’ll never get tired of seeing that peak peeking out at me.

Cheers to you, PNW, and your captivating mountains.

Do you love mountains? Or do you prefer some other type of landscape? 

Wanderlust Wednesday is a weekly travel post originally started on the Wanderlusty Writer. It features places I’ve been and places I want to go that fuel my wanderlust.