At 14,179 feet (4,322 m) Mount Shasta ("White Mountain") is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California. What makes it more spectacular than other mountains of a similar height, is that it stands alone and rises abruptly nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the surrounding terrain. If it was connected to other mountains, I do not think it would look quite as impressive as it does by itself.
Mount Shasta is a dormant volcano, which is predicted to erupt within the next several hundred years ☺ It is difficult to believe that, looking at its snow-covered peaks:
