July 25, 1999 _ View of Rainier through Trees Bill Climbing the Muir Snowfield Bill and Dave at Camp Muir Bill Boarding beneath Rainier Bill Boarding below the Icefall Dave Carves a Turn below Rainier Dave Boarding the Waterfall April 8, 2000 _ View of Adams and St Helens Rainier from Glacier Vista Matt Climbing Muir Snowfield Amar and Matt at Camp Muir Matt Boarding Muir Snowfield Matt Carving a Turn Muir Snowfield Panorama December 3, 2000 _ Matt and Micah Skiing Up Adams with Lenticulars & Sun Dog The Circum-Zenithal Arc!!! Rainier Lenticular Clouds Panorama Adams with Sunset Glow Matt Boarding at Dusk Micah Skiing into the Sunset

Photos utterly fail to capture the grandeur of the spectacle we beheld. For the first time in my life, I saw the circum-zenithal arc, the bright "rainbow" shown here which, unlike the numerous other halos, curves AWAY from the sun! Circum-zenithal means around the highest point in the sky, and that's where this arc was centered. A second fainter arc (known as the 46-degree upper tangential arc) was visible with the sunglass-protected eye but appears lost in this photo. Note that we are looking upward at a steep angle, with the low December midday sun just out of the view at bottom and the zenith of the sky just above the top of the photo.
(For a full description of these fascinating solar halos, read "Light and Color in the Outdoors" by Marcel Minnaert, especially section 156 ff.)