January 22, 2008
Cascade Mountain High
Photo by Shawnmebo
There’s nothing like a clear winter day to illustrate how beautiful Seattle’s natural skylines are. As the only major American city to boast not one, but two mountain ranges easily within view (the Aurora Bridge is a dangerous yet spectacular place to catch both ranges with a simple swivel of the head) it’s days like this that make Seattlest reflect upon what an overrated piece of shit Denver is.
Folk cornball John Denver may have sealed the national meme for Colorado’s biggest city but Seattle has Denver beat on every level with the exception of snow quality. If Mt. Rainier were a prize fighter it would kick every mountain in Colorado’s ass. While only 14 thousand odd feet tall, Mt. Rainier is coming straight up from sea level. That’s 14 thousand feet of pure, glaciated, ass kicking volcano! Meanwhile those bitches in Colorado are sitting on a 6 thousand foot booster chair before they even start getting into the air. Think of the Rockies as the world’s biggest push-up bra. Pike’s Peak is taller than Mt. Rainier but you can practically drive to the summit. Try driving up Mt. Rainier and you’ll end up like a footnote in a Jon Krakauer book.
In addition to beautiful mountains we have the Puget Sound teeming with aquatic wonders and a resident Orca pod. Denver has the Midwest and a large evangelical population. (ED: Also, John Elway. Blech.)
Seattlest would like to remind the rest of the nation that next time they want to talk mountain beauty they had better remember the volcanic glory of Mt. Rainier and our multiple mountain ranges before lazily defaulting to Denver because they can’t get John Denver out of their head.
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Ahh such a beautiful view. I was enjoying a Mt. Rainier sunrise yesterday. IMHO the best way to catch the Aurora Bridge mountain view is on foot, where you're easily 2 or 3 feet higher up than in a car, and you can gaze forever without causing accidents. I've found the wind is usually blowing east, towards Lake Union, so jog across the west side of the bridge to avoid the exhaust fumes.
Clear days/nights in Seattle make life so much better.
My girlfriend and I were driving my family to the airport at 6:30am on Monday morning, and the moon over Elliott Bay was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was a huge, almost full moon right above the water. The reflection off the water was putting an almost fake looking, brilliant light on the West side of downtown. You could see the outline of the Olympics in the background.
We saw one person taking pictures/filming it from the bridge connecting Beacon Hill to the ID; I wish I could see the results.
Just got back from a lunch at Pike Place Market. It was cold, but I was so happy to be sitting outside with the sun on my face, looking out at the Olympics.
We can lay claim to John Elway; born in Port Angeles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elway
Actually, Rainier is almost 300 ft higher than Pike's Peak, proving your thesis even more definitively. (There are a couple of peaks higher than Rainier in Colorado, but none are in the Rockies.)
Hailing from Salt Lake, we always sniggered when people referred to Denver as some form of high-mountain standard. But, it also means I must debate your statement about not being able to see two mountain ranges at once from elsewhere other than Seattle. Granted, Salt Lake probably doesn't count as a "major US city" and doesn't boast a fourteener peak, but you can stand betwixt the Wasatch Mountains (home to over 7 major ski resorts) on the east and the Oquirrh Mountains on the west while watching the sun set over the Great Salt Lake, and well, there's a reason I was so happy when I moved to Seattle. Except that in Salt Lake, you get to see said mountains and lake something like 80% of the time, replete with sunshine. (Also: mormons. Which is why I live here now, not there.)
Does anybody know of a coffeeshop near the U District that has a view of either a mountain range or of the sunset? These past few days have reminded me how nice finding such a cafe would be.
Your best shot would be to bundle up, grab a hot beverage (maybe with a kicker?) and head over to Drumheller fountain for one of the prettiest views of any mountain anywhere.