It's hard to get a proper sense of scale when you look at a mountain the size of Rainier. It's not the highest mountain on the continent, though it is one of the most massive. Many peaks over 10,000 feet in the Rockies start at about 5,000 feet and go up from there. In the case of Mt. Rainier, the base of the mountain is almost at sea level and then rises to over 14,000 feet.

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