Mt. Shasta has influenced spiritual myths for a long time. Its lenticular clouds, which surround its summit, have long been associated with extraterrestrials. [Photo] Bryce Craig
Mt. Shasta is a solitary and captivating mountain that can be seen from more than 100 miles away. Seen while one drives north on I-5, the robust massif—the Cascade Range’s most voluminous stratovolcano—stretches toward the sky, its 14,179-foot summit rising to the east of its satellite cone, Shastina. Orb-like clouds—their whisked, cylindrical appearance beautiful and unnatural—brush its summit so often they’ve been reported as UFOs. Shasta is the southernmost Cascades and lies just 40 miles from the Oregon Border. Known for more than just its physical beauty, it stands out as an impalpable entity—an energy, a sacredness—that has inspired myths of hidden civilizations, religious movements, a designation as Earth’s Root Chakra and even a nonprofit recognized by a President’s Council.
“When I first caught sight of [Mount Shasta] I was fifty-miles away, on foot and alone. But all my blood…
