Sunrise view of Mount Rainier as seen from Reflection Lake. Photo taken from the southern lake shore. Gibraltar Rock is nicely visible on the right.
On May 8, 1792 Captain George Vancouver, British Royal Navy, anchored his ship near the present town of Port Townsend, WA in northern Puget Sound. Vancouver wrote in his log "... the round snowy mountain, now forming its (Cascade Range) southern extremity, and which, after my friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, I distinguished by the name of Mount Rainier ..."
Mount Rainier National Park was established on March 2, 1899, and is the fifth oldest national park in the United States. Today, the park covers an area of 378 square miles (235,612.5 acres) and contains 382 lakes.
