This amazing high school senior and his mom cam all the way from Georgia to hike in the Cascades and have his senior portraits taken at Mount Rainier! He loves hiking and being in the mountains, so naturally, we visited the tallest one around. 🙂 It started out as a very cool and grey overcast day. At just above 6000 feet when I parked my car, the temperature was in the 40s and there was a cold wind blowing through. Not exactly what one expects in July… But, I had been eyeing the weather forecast and it seemed pretty certain that the clouds would give way to sunny skies by later in the afternoon and while it was already getting into the evening, I still hoped that things would soon clear. Unfortunately, the clouds stubbornly refused to vacate and we ended up only getting glimpses of the surrounding peaks here and there, wth thick fog eventually enshrouding everything. But, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. And in this case, if we’d packed it in even a few minutes earlier, we would have missed something spectacular.

So while the fog kept us locked in grey, we explored, looking for an opening where a view might materialize, and capturing him in his element. And while we were exploring, I learned that he’s been running track and cross-country in high school (like I did back in the day), but more recently, he’s discovered that going on long hikes is what he truly loves. He even planned a 30-mile wonderland trail hike around Mount Rainier for the next day! And when it comes to college, even though many Georgia schools are actually free for residents, he’s seriously considering the UW because he wants to be close to mountains the Cascades!

After we had wandered about a mile or so out and had started to head back, quite suddenly the fog started to thin and we could see down either side of the ridge. Then the very peak of Mount Rainier materialized, glistening in the sun above the clouds. A few minutes later the fog quickly left the whole valley in front of the mountain and we had amazing, sweeping views in all directions. Looking towards the northwest, we could see some lingering fog catching the sunlight as the sun got lower on the horizon. It was incredible! We stayed up there after we were done shooting for a few minutes – he wanted to take some of his own photographs of the mountains before heading down!

Thank you both for the wonderful session! It was so great to meet you and capture these images for you in such a beautiful place! Congratulations to this amazing senior and the class of 2026!