[moonspots]

Driving east on I-90 this afternoon, I stopped at one of my favorite "Mt Rainier viewing spots": Ryegrass summit, but due to the sun setting in the background and the clouds/haze, the view wasn't great so I motored on. As I approached Ritzville, I looked in the mirror and saw it in sillouette just short of mile marker 215. Cool, so I stopped to take a shot with the 300mm lens. Motored on some more and again (I think I) got a glimpse at mile marker 221, 4 or 5 miles west of Ritzville. I could have stopped and confirmed with the binoculars, but it was getting dark. Google maps says the straightline distance is 160 miles. Now I have to see if I can best that.

[tmatlack]

Moon, Good catch. I know that stretch well. When I 1st moved here 27 years ago I hiked up Mt. Pilchuck with a good pair of binoculars and I am 95% certain I could get a small focus on Mt. Hood east of Portland. It was just a pinprick but the morning was crisp and cool and 100% haze free. Since then, there is a persistent smog/haze along I-5 looking south, even on clear non inversion days. Mt. St. Helens is visible, as are the skyscrapers in Seattle, but that's about it. Sorta sad. Tom

[gb]

Over the years I've seen a couple of photographs from the summit of Mt. Rainier in which Mt. Shasta was visible. Lot better now than it was when the Washington, later Oregon and California forest fire smoke made it difficult to see 30 miles this summer.

[touron]

It is good to know there is scenery around Ritzville.

[treeswarper]

The campground host at Lost Lake--the Lost Lake by Chesaw, was from Ritzville and was very nice.

[MikeBeebe]

[lookout bob]

photo?

[mbtigger]

There used to be places here in the tri-cities to view mount adams. There may still be, but housing and air quality are lowering the number of viwing locations.

[moonspots]

[tmatlack]

Moon, Sorry to detour your thread but Holy Earth Curve, Batman, Mt. Shasta from atop Rainier??? Pikes Peak, CO, from California???? I don't know geometry but doesn't the curve of the earth preclude vistas of that distance?? No matter how high you are???? Tom

[moonspots]

[Malachai Constant]

It was probably Jefferson not Shasta.

[Token Civilian]

The formula is pretty easy. For an observer at height H (in miles) above the surface, the distance to the horizon of a perfect sphere is: Distance = Square root of [(Earth Radius + Height)^2-(Earth Radius)^2] To see some object at some height beyond, do the same calculation for the height of the object and add that distance. Google says the earth radius is 3959 miles. So, if one was on top of Rainier, at 14,409 feet, the distance to the horizon at zero elevation is 147.0 miles. For Shasta, the Google says it's 14,180', so the very tip would be visible from a person at the surface 145.8 miles away. So, if one had a totally clear light of sight with no intervening objects, the furthest away one could see Shasta from the top of Rainier would be 147.0 + 145.8 miles = 292.8 miles. Using Google Maps, I drew a straight line from Mt. Rainier to Mt Shasta. It says the line is 377 miles.....and it goes right over Crater Lake. Shasta can not be visible from Rainier.

[Get Out and Go]

I've seen Shasta from Cooper Spur on Mt. Hood. I can't seem to bring up my Flickr photos, but half-way down this TR you can see a couple of shots I took. Shasta from Hood From Port Angeles, on crystal winter days, you can see the mainland B.C. coast range poking up behind Victoria and Vancouver Island. One can also pick out the form of Big Jim from quite a ways out there on I-90 mid-state. By the way Moonspots, you forgot the soundtrack. I Can See For Miles

[mehitabel]

In doing the geometry, you also have to consider the refraction of light by the atmosphere. Some approximate formula for the distance to the visible horizon as a function of height are given here http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/explain/atmos_refr/horizon.html