Blizzard in the Cascade Range

— Often during a storm, it pays to wait a few minutes to capture a nice photo. I remember on this trip to Mt. Rainier NP back in the summer of 2011 that this was a good example. We had passed Louise Lake on the way to the Paradise Visitor Center. On the way there, we could not get any good photos of the lake because of the weather. So, we kept driving.

We arrived at the Paradise Visitor Center and were surprised at how much snow was still on the ground. In fact, we learned from a ranger that just two days before our visit, they had re-opened the center. I asked the ranger if there were any hiking trails open and was informed that only if we had snowshoes or similar equipment. Consequently, we did not spend much time at the Paradise Visitor Center. You can see in the photo here how much snow was still packed around the area. After going into the store, we decided to head back to our lodge. Just as we were approaching Louise Lake again, we realized the storm was starting to clear. We stopped the car and waited a few minutes. That is when I made the shot above. There was not much I could see, but some clouds moved away and showed us blue skies. With my zoom lens, I was able to capture some details in the mountain and even a portion of a glacier. Capturing that photo and the next one at Louise Lake paid off big time.