As the afternoon dragged on, Mt. Rainier loomed overhead, growing bigger and bigger with each step. Soon, the trees gave way to grassy hills. Hoary marmots and striped ground squirrels grazed the meadows and darted across the fields. Overhead, a golden eagle hunted from above the ridge. The mountain’s glaciers shone blue and white in the afternoon sun, and waterfalls dropped dramatically from its cliffs. 

But I was getting tired. I found a large flat rock near the trail with a dramatic view of the mountain, and there, at the foot of Mt. Rainier, I stopped and, after seven months of waiting, finally cracked open my can Dr. Pepper.