Johnson, age 7, of Palouse, Washington, for his question:

Could Mt. Rainier really blow up?

Stately green forests climb up the slopes of Mt. Rainier as high as they can. Sometimes the highest treetops are lost in a hazy mist. Then, on summer days, the mountain's snowy crown seems to hover above the earth. It looks like a huge white cloud up there in the blue sky. Surely this calm and beauteous mountain could never blow its top. However, experts tell us that once upon a time Mt. Rainier really was a fiery volcano. But ages ago it grew tired and sleepy. Certainly it is not likely to blow up and nobody really expects it will ever erupt again.

Seattle dips its toes in the cool water of Puget Sound    and looks around at the beautiful scenery on every side. The city nestles there amid green slopes and snow white peaks that seem to touch the sky. The breathtaking scenery belongs to the Cascade Mountain Range. Its highest,. most kingly peak is Mr. Majesty, Mt. Rainier. This huge, humped crown stands 14,410 feet higher than the water in Puget Sound. On a clear day people can see it from 80 miles or more.

Its peak is covered with massive white glaciers of frozen snows. Their icy finders reach far into the valleys down the slopes. Their fingertips melt and send streams of clean, clear water gushing on their way. Some of them tumble in fairy tale waterfalls. All this melted water dashes along to feed the tall forests of fir and cedar that grow lower down the slopes.

Everyone agrees that this beautiful scenery should be saved for everyone to enjoy. And so it is. It is Mount Rainier National Park. Visitors to the quiet, peaceful scenery never imagine that Mr. Majesty might someday blow up again. Surely this calm mountain could never lose its dignity and misbehave. And these trusting visitors are almost certainly right.

It is true that Mt. Rainier erupted many times in the past. So did the other nearby snow capped peaks. But this was long ages ago, when the Cascade Range was still growing. These peaks were then volcanoes, helping the range to grow taller. About 100 million years ago, the throat of Mt. Rainier erupted fiery fumes and rivers of red hot lava.    Its many eruptions built up a great pile of ashes to make the mountain. When the Cascades finished growing, the volcanos calmed down. Mt. Rainier grew tired and sleepy. Its throat is now a rugged crater deep inside the peak. A few smoky fumes still puff up from the crater floor    but most likely they are dying gasps. Experts rate Mt. Rainier as a dormant or sleeping volcano. A dormant volcano may or may not erupt a little hot lava. After long ages of sleep, it may even wake up with a big, wild eruption. But our Mr. Majesty is not likely to do this. In a few thousand years, when there are no more smoky fumes in its crater floor, Mt. Rainier will be classed as an extinct, or lifeless, volcano.

The scenic Cascade Range runs all the way from California up into Canada's British Columbia. The highest of its old volcanic peaks are now crowned with year round snows. Their fiery old throats are deep craters. Several of them still puff up a few plumes of smoke. Californians can remember when their Mt. Lassen coughed and erupted a little lava. But no one can remember Mt. Rainier's last eruption. All these old volcanoes are too old and tired to blow up. None of them are likely to do much, if any, erupting in the future.