Book captures Mount Rainier in beautiful photographs, writing

Review by Erika Vanwick      

By way of over one hundred pages of panoramic display - including a couple of amazing 360 degree panoramic shots - Will Landon takes the reader/viewer on a one-of-a-kind photographic tour of Washington State's Mt. Rainier. Incredible photos taken by the author between 1972 and 1995 together serve as one heck of an armchair excursion into Rainier's backcountry that's sure to make for a memorable "read."

Landon's limited text of well-selected, poetic words allows for personal interpretation of the breathtaking photography throughout. Part backcountry guide, part reflective journal, part camera technique, Rainier Panorama is a stunning collection undoubtedly unique among the many Mount Rainier guides and books - coffee table variety or otherwise - available. While Landon and his camera acknowledge some familiar favorites - Steven's Canyon, Grove of the Patriarchs, Paradise River - pictures are also presented which show some of the lesser-known (and perhaps rarely visited) areas around the mountain, labeled simply "in a corner of wilderness," and Landon tells of his exploratory nature that gives rise to such pictures:

"The challenge of the remote place rewards those who achieve it with a treasure house of memories, and an awareness that all is well. Visiting the seldom-traveled corners of wilderness requires a self-reliance that exhilarates, thus enhancing the benefit all the more. I am happiest when I am exploring. Whether in the wilderness of nature or in the endeavors of my craft, the creative solution, the exploration, that is the thing that excites me the most..."

Distinctive is one word that repeatedly comes to mind when taking in Landon's work. In one passage, he relates how we as humans can benefit from and even model ourselves after our natural surroundings - not through the proverbial soar of an eagle or the skyward reach of a giant cedar - but through fungi. Yes, even the mushroom can enlighten:

We are so often trapped by our circumstances. To change our course is a very difficult thing to do, for we must confront ourselves. There is a comfort in continuing to do what we now do, an ease in repeating proven cycles. We can learn from this curious mushroom. It remains hidden in its own underground silo until nearly fully grown. When ready, it thrusts upward, dislodging the forest floor, making its dramatic entrance to the outside world. it cannot go back into the protection of the earth. Its decision is irrevocable. So should ours be, when we change course.

Such unusual respect for an insight into the surrounding flora - along with geological formations, changing seasons, water, and weather patterns (to name just a few) - is evident throughout the book and provides the audience with perhaps something new to think about, or at least a way of looking at things differently. Landon's beautiful work serves as a picturesque guide not only of Mount Rainier and environs but maybe as a guide for the human spirit as well.