Alpenglow or Alpenglühen in the Alps

I came across the phenomenon of Alpenglow while reading Galen Rowell's book "Inner Game of outdoor photography". His website features Alpenglow's in all forms on high mountain ranges. Mountaineers witness them on a regular basis almost. A few years ago, While visiting the swiss alps. we had started on a short hike between mountain villages of Murren and Gimmelwald in the Bernese Oberland. It was late hour of the evening, Walking back to Murren around sunset from Gimmelwald that was at a higher elevation, the view was breathtaking. At that time, I was still shooting film and my Nikon N80 had a roll of Fuji Velvia 50, the camera was dangling on my neck. The day had been clear with blue skys earlier and a little after the sun went down, I looked up and could not believe my eyes an Alpenglow. Then a brilliant almost red band of light crowned the peaks. The drama in color was heightened by the scatter of the snow.
I swung into action composing the shots and firing away. Soon the roll finished and I loaded another and squeezed a few more before it disappeared as soon as it had initially appeared. For the next couple of days I was there,I never observed another alpenglow. I was merely lucky to witness one of the best alepnglow's in my life.
But for someone on a mission of hunting an alpenglow, it would pay to do some research to be at the right spot and find out the direction of the sun and patiently wait for one to make an appearance.

Seattle's view of a Mt Ranier Alpenglow

To most Seattle residents "the mountain" is a part of their natural background . At over 14000 ft Mt Rainier is an imposing feature and a reminder of reach of the awesome volcano to the surrounding metropolitan area.
Given the weather of Seattle and its surrounding areas, clear days are something to cherish for. It is on clear days that one can see the looming mountain appear majestically in the background.

I took a short walk down the space needle towards alaskan way to check out location of victoria clipper ferry to Victoria Canada on pier 69. It was late afternoon right around dusk. Having checked out the area i headed towards Myrtle Edwards Park along the shoreline of the sound and not too far from the pier. Along the rocky shores I had settled down with my camera fitted with a zoom lens and was looking through the view finder to perhaps shoot the port area. I was really lucky to see Mt Rainier catch an alpenglow. Not wanting to waste the opportunity I squeezed a couple of shots before the magic light faded away. Having been to Mt Rainier National Park and the surrounding area one can only admire the mountain in awe. It would give an immense perspective of the power of a volcano, if one were to visit Mt St Helens national park.