Category: Elevation
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Island Isolation doesn’t Require an Island
Juneau is located in Alaska’s southeastern panhandle and serves as the state capital. No roads connect Juneau to the outside world even though it’s clearly part of mainland North America. Access is by sea or by air only. Rather than describe the situation it’s easier to show it. Notice how Juneau hugs a narrow seaside…
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Hydrological Apex of North America
Twelve Mile Circle has discussed watersheds and continental divides before. We’ve crossed the Great Divide in Colorado together. We’ve visited the Red River of the North in Fargo, North Dakota that drains to the Arctic Ocean. And we’ve even mentioned a small corner of Canada that drains into the Gulf of Mexico. So divides are…
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Lowest Elevation in Nepal
This is Mount Everest (map), a topic way to obvious for the Twelve Mile Circle to consider. What could I add? Everyone knows about it, every map of the area shows it, and resources galore focus on its magnificence. Its national attitudinal opposite, however — the lowest elevation in Nepal — is a different story…
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Geography as Pitcher Plant
A pitcher plant feeds carnivorously on unsuspecting insects. Bugs crawl, fly or fall into the plant. They cannot escape. Soon victims drown and slowly dissolve into a soup absorbed by the plant for nutrition. The Situation I read a great article in the Washington Post over the weekend that is still available online: “Drunk Drivers…
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Ice Melts, Border Changes
Borders based on natural features cannot last forever. Topography changes over time, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but invariably it happens. You may have seen a recent article that appeared in CNN, Melting glaciers in Alps forcing Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders, that proves this point. It’s a fascinating account although the headline is…
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Delaware Trifecta
The Howder Clan found itself in northern Delaware this weekend. Indeed we traveled within the actual Twelve Mile Circle itself which inspired the name of this site. Of course I carved out some time for a few geo-oddities in this very rich concentration of such spots. Some of them I’ve discussed before and others I’ll…
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Wallace Redux
I’ve never been to Wallace, Idaho but I simply couldn’t get that place out of my head in spite of the controversy[1] surrounding its Center of the Universe claim. Seemingly, there is an odd story for each of its 960 residents. This one involves a stoplight. It all comes down to geography and in this…
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Wyndham Winter Warmer
It’s been chilly lately at Twelve Mile Circle as winter approaches. Perhaps some warm thoughts will help me get through these cold evenings. I need to take my mind to the hottest spot on the planet. I might consider the place with the highest absolute recorded temperature. That would be Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya on September…
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West Coast Sunrises over Water
We’ve had fun watching the comments posted on my recent entry, East Coast Sunsets over Water. Matthew kicked things off when he wondered whether the opposite condition might exist. Does a West Coast sunrise ever happen over water? Scott Schrantz who has followed the Twelve Mile Circle for awhile, later solved the mystery by providing…
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They Reversed the Chicago River
What’s a growing city to do when its water supply is jeopardized by its own filth? If it’s Chicago and it’s the late 19th Century, they reverse the flow of an entire river system. In the process they purposely punctured a Continental Divide. I’m in Chicago this week so I wanted to make sure I…