Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Elevation

  • Northernmost Southern Hemispheric Glacier

    I discussed the southernmost glaciers in the northern hemisphere in the last installment and found some surprising answers. Today I take the opposite tack and examine the northernmost glaciers in the southern hemisphere. Let’s start again by reviewing the worldwide glacier map I discovered on the U.S. Geological Survey site. Maybe Cayambe Again? To recap…

  • Southernmost Northern Hemispheric Glacier

    My trip to Alaska got me thinking about snow, ice and glaciation. There were glaciers aplenty on the Kenai Peninsula but that’s not unexpected at sixty degrees north of the equator. Where, I wondered, was the southernmost glacier in the northern hemisphere? It’s not the first time my mind has wandered in this basic direction.…

  • Islands Below Sea Level

    Are there any islands below sea level? The question seemed absurd on its surface when I noticed it lodged in my web logs in the form of a search engine query. However I’ve learned to not be so dismissive. I’ve uncovered increasingly obscure artifacts and encountered surprisingly unusual situations in the years I’ve written Twelve…

  • Kenai Adventure, Part 3 – Wildlife

    Most people probably drive down to Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for the scenery and the wildlife, and that’s also true for me. Sure, I enjoyed poking around some of the more unusual aspects of Kenai geography but that doesn’t mean I haven’t taken advantage of opportunities to marvel at the natural beauty that attracts every other…

  • Kenai Adventure, Part 1

    I resolved my Internet dilemma. A park set aside for recreational vehicles sits just downhill from us although out of our line of site. Apparently there’s a company that specializes in providing Internet access to RV parks, allowing visitors to rent by the day, week or month. I’m close enough to tap into that so…

  • Four Runways – Four Miles

    I arrived in Alaska yesterday, in Anchorage specifically. I’d posted an appeal for Alaskan geo-oddities before I left and I’ve received a number of awesome recommendations from the generous readers of Twelve Mile Circle. First up was reader “Steve” who sent me an idea by email: “in Anchorage, there is a spot within four miles…

  • Because I Can

    I’m sure the novelty will wear-off before too long, but this is the first time I’ve ever flown on a WiFi-enabled airline flight. We’re presently in the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio, at 38,000 feet on the first leg of our journey to Anchorage, Alaska. This is me and one of my little geo-oddity aficionados saying…

  • The Oddity That Got Away

    I’ve returned from Denver, Colorado. Well of course I found some time to record a couple of oddities. That’s what I do. Specifically I visited the Denver International Airport and one of the Arapahoe Exclaves. However, I didn’t exhaust the wish list I brought along with me. Maybe I should have expected that because I…

  • My First Helicopter Ride

    I’d never been in a helicopter until yesterday. It was one of those minor life accomplishments that had been gnawing at me for the longest time. I’d had plenty of opportunities to take care of this before. Somehow the timing wasn’t right or it was too expensive or I was tired or I wanted to…

  • A Single Point on the Border

    I encountered a number of interesting situations as I pulled together my recent series of borderlocking articles. One of those revelations pertained to Jeff Davis County(1) in the State of Texas. Examine its layout closely. Clearly it borders on Mexico. However that happens only at a single point along the Rio Grande River at its…