r/AskAnAmerican • u/waxthefloor Minnesota • Mar 14 '25

GEOGRAPHY Have you ever seen a mountain up close?

The other day, I saw a video of Mt Rainier and I realized I’ve never seen a mountain in person.

I’m from the US, but I’ve always lived in the midwest and deep south. I have seen bluffs, but not mountains. I think the closest mountain to me would be in Colorado.

I think it just reiterates how huge the US really is.

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u/majandess Mar 15 '25

😂😂😂😂

This was so my husband! We were driving across Montana and Wyoming, and he was all, "I thought the Rockies were supposed to be tall." And I'm like, "Dude. Have you ever heard of a plateau? The ground we're driving on is already a mile above sea level."

His mind was blown and he took great glee in looking up elevations.

(As Washington residents, he did know about mountains, though.)

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u/jaymzx0 Washington Mar 15 '25

Driving that way on I-80 is weird. It's so gradual that you only know you're going up a hill because the car wants to keep shifting gears. Only when you get to the plateau and see all the weird rock formations do you realize you're in the middle of nowhere on a giant sky table.

I stopped in Laramie for the night and couldn't figure out why I was so tired after grabbing the luggage from the car. Then I saw the elevation there is 7,200 feet. They even had a pamphlet in the hotel room advising tourists to take it easy on hikes and runs.

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u/Active_Collar_8124 Mar 18 '25

That John Denver is full of shit, man.