Mount Rainier, Tacoma, Ti'Swaq and Myrtle Falls

You are looking at a vintage postcard of Myrtle Falls and Mount Rainier. On the postcard Mount Rainier is called Mount Tacoma.

I've seen Mount Rainier called Mount Tahoma and Mount Ti'Swaq, but never Mount Tacoma.

I saw Myrtle Falls and Mount Tacoma for the first time, up close, on August 11, 2008.

When I saw Myrtle Falls it was not falling as much water as is falling in the postcard. And there is a wooden bridge near the top of Myrtle Falls, currently, that does not appear to exist when this postcard was made.

Seeing Mount Rainier up close for the first time sort of surprised me. It did not look as HUGE as I expected it to.

When Washington locals say, "The Mountain is out," it means you can see Mount Rainier. This happens frequently in summer. Not so frequently the rest of the year. When I stayed a month in Tacoma, in summer of 2004, The Mountain was out every day.

From Tacoma, when The Mountain is out, it looks HUGE. When you are up north, in Skagit County, out on the flats, and The Mountain is out, it looks HUGE.

This is why I thought it'd look HUGE up close. But, it didn't. Not like I thought it would.

It took, I think, 5 trips to Mount Rainier National Park before I finally saw The Mountain. It was worth the wait.

You can watch video from August 11, 2008 and the unshrouding of The Mountain, below...