Mount Rainier, Washington, USA
U.S. Geological Survey photo by Lyn Topinka (fair use policy)
Mount Rainier, Washington, is an active volcano. This is worth emphasizing because it doesn't really look like the classic, smoking, symmetrical volcano that Americans tend to picture in their heads. This view, from the southwest side, makes the mountain look unfamiliar, worth a fresh look.
Rainier is the highest of the Cascade Range volcanoes and surely the most dangerous, all things considered. For one thing, it's old and rotten inside, meaning that its internal layers of lava have softened and crumbled under the long action of volcanic gases, so it's prone to fall off in chunks. For another, it has more glacier ice on it than any other mountain in the 48 states. That's extra weight it doesn't need, and eruptions tend to melt the ice and cause floods. Large tracts of the countryside around Rainier are actually huge, ancient mudflows, and the mountain isn't finished making them.
But the real reason it's so dangerous is that millions of people have settled in its neighborhood, most of them unaware of how many ways a volcano can ruin your lifestyle. For lots more information, visit the Mount Rainier home page at the Cascades Volcano Observatory.
More photos from the Cascade Range
