Sunday, November 6, 2011

Mt. Shasta

As soon as we crossed the northern border of California, a spectacular sight of Mount Shasta appeared in front of us. Both Anil and I were truly amazed and deeply touched by the beauty of the mountain, and its sight made us feel happy to be back in our home state, just a few hours away from home. Even though we have seen many amazing places in our lives, we both agree that California is the most beautiful place of them all. Mount Shasta was a small reminder of that.

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: