Mt Rainier - Lookout Ridge
46. Lookout Ridge, Mt. Rainier.
So a little while ago Girafe released some excellent lupines. With that final ingredient the recipe to re-imagine Mt. Rainier, one of my favorite places, is complete (well, complete enough). And so now the nature update you knew was coming sooner or later. Fair warning: this update is LONG-like the longest i've ever done long, so get yourself some coffee before we get started. I'm not kidding: just look at that scrollbar on your right...
In reality, this is called Stevens Ridge, and the waterway below it is Steven's creek. But we're going to call it Lookout Ridge. (reminder: ~please click for full resolution)
00. We start off on a trail somewhere on Mt. Rainier:
01. Here Greenery abounds.
02. High up, some of the late summer flowers bloom right up against ground that still has patchy coverings of snow.
03. Snow in summer....who'da thunk it:
04. Meltwater trickles down through the meadows in a small stream.
05. It gives rise to patches of green amist the last remnants of snowpack.
06. The trail crosses the narrow stream.
07. A small fork in the trail, the uphill path winds through denser snowpack.
08. The streambeds dry into the barest trickle of water over rocky ground dotted with patches of green.
09. Eventually snow lays a year-long claim to the ground, and the trail is reduced to a series of stone markers poking through the snowfield. Up here is the higher watchpost above lookout ridge.
10. Looking back down on the small basin-like depression.
11. Larger view...
12. Small overview of the basin.
13. Alpine wildflowers.
14. The loop trail continues on and we meet some cyclists.
15. As the trail passes along the edge of the basin the water drops right over the side.
16. Start of the waterfalls.
17. The trail continues on.... always going....
18. ....until we reach the lookout above the waterfalls.
19. There's all kinds of people here.
20. Looking down on just a couple of the hundreds of waterfalls coming off the mountain.
21. It's a long ways down.
22. It's amazing how much water a single mountain can hold.
23. The trail continues on, passing another stream that's so small you barely notice it till you're on top of it.
24. In reality:
25. Heading up the side of the ridge.
26. Climbing through scree slopes we reach the southern lookout tower.
27. This lookout is perched atop the ridge instead of a small know of a hill.
28. You can see all the way down into the bottom of the valley.
29. Further south there is no trail but there's enough open space to explore the wildflowers amidst the snowfields.
30. As the slope drops down the vegetation thickens.
31. The trail back along the backside of the ridge is little more than hardpack between rocks.
32. But you can see the lower trail.
33. And there's still flowers, even when you're high enough up it should be barren.
34. The bottom of the valley.
35. Rapid and fierce erosion make sure the floor is covered in rocks.
36. The steeply sloped valley makes for many rapids.
37. Rapids churn and froth when visible through the trees.
38. More of the isolated valley.
39. And from the other side.
40. And that's it from Mt. Rainier.
Whew. That was long.
I hope you enjoyed it, and if so please feel free to drop a comment below.
Up next week; the mosaics.
@Kruness: I hope it lived up to your expectations 
@MilitantRadical: Thank you, sir. Glad you enjoyed it :salute:
@Hellken: Yes indeed. I'm loving how the SV terrain mod looks, especially in the snow transition areas. Just flat out loving it.
@RepublicMaster: Thanks for the comment! Hope this week didn't disappoint.
@ggamgus: Thanks! I did quite a bit of looking at ports in google earth before i built it. Google earth really is a great resource for doing research before you build something in SC4.
@Fox: Thanks; the port pieces are nbvc's, and i think most of the containers sitting on the ground are from the SNM container set, so not really that much goes into it. Hardest part is scrolling alllllllllllllllll the way to the bottom of the parks menu to get to those containers.... And you can't see it from the pics i've shown so far, but that oil terminal is really an island and the container dock is on the backside on the mainland.
@Huston: Thank you, sir. I'm finding i like making mosaics more and more as i make these updates-so much potential in them, like you said.
@City_Master: Thanks for the comment! You'll find that many ports have freshwater reservoirs like this for scrubbing down ships and resupply.
@NMUSpidey: Thank you, sir! I spent some time looking at the Hook of Holand and the rest of the Europort at Rotterdam in google earth. There's also this old but good thread on building ports in SC4. Fortunately there's better tools availible now than when that was written.
@Forthwall: Thanks! I've never actually looked at Oaklands port; i'll have to take a peek at it.
@Burndawg: Ha ha thanks, but i recommend looking at a real port somewhere and trying to make the most of imitating that instead; it'll probably look better that way.
@Goin2Chicago: Thank you for the comment. I look forward to seeing what you can do.
-
16
18 Comments
Recommended Comments
Sign In or register to comment...
To comment in reply, you must be a community member
Sign In
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowCreate an Account
Sign up to join our friendly community. It's easy!
Register a New Account