Can you see Vancouver BC from the top of Rainier?

Atmospheric corrections would vary widely with humidity, temperature and pressure. <br><br>As wolfs suggests, a mirage-like effect could greatly increase the range. I imagine under those circumstances the image would be rather distorted, though. Cool link, too!<br><br>No surprise about seeing St Helens from those elevations around Seattle. One can add ~27 miles for 500' of elevation.<br><br>Sam's observation is certainly farther than curvature alone would allow. Maybe he saw a superior mirage?<br><br>So I think I must change my answer to, "Not usually." But it must happen now and again.

It's interesting that 500' of elevation down low can add 27 miles, yet 3000'plus (diff.- Hood vs. Rainier) up high only adds 17 miles. This is according to Sky's chart.

That's because it goes like a square root. It's the same reason why doing experiments to higher precision by collecting statistics gets real hard: the (random) statistical fluctuation is proportional to the square root of the number of events. The square root rises sharply near zero, then looks flat for large values.<br><br>Here is a graph of the distance one can see to a flat sea level from a summit, neglecting all atmospheric corrections. The highest summit on the graph would be Everest. Note how sharply the curve rises near zero. <br><br>

For what it's worth I have seen Mt. Rainer from the top of Mary's Peak (el. 4097 ft) in winter on a clear day on several occasions. The Peak is approx. 20 miles west of Corvallis, OR and in the Coastal Mountain range. It's a relatively straight shot to Seattle which is 256 miles from Corvallis by vehicle. That would make Rainer at least 225 miles from Mary's Peak as the crow flies.

As the bird flies, it's only 158 miles from Albany OR to Longmire WA. I don't think it could be more than 15-20 more miles as the bird flies from the summit of Mary's Peak to the summit of Rainier. Let's be conservative and call it 180 miles. <br><br>From the summit of a 4,100' peak to a 14,410' peak I get 225 miles geometrically. We could even subtract 15% for refraction and easily get this one. We don't need no stinking mirage!<br><br>I'll bet the birds are getting tired... I think I better let them rest tonight.

While I like my pythagorean method to calculating site distances, it is a rough method. Found some links that are much more studied....<br><br>How To Calculate Distances, Azimuths and Elevation Angles Of Peaks: tchester.org/sgm/analysis/peaks/how_to_get_view_params.html

The Effect Of Atmospheric Refraction On The Observed Elevation Angles Of Peaks:<br> tchester.org/sgm/analysis/peaks/refraction.html

Here is a site that creates a graphic horizon for you based on your location:
Find mountain and peak name when hiking:<br> www.mountainpeaks.net/