Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Elevation

  • Various Points Around Juneau

    The City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, USA (August 1995 & July 2000) Mount Roberts The Mount Roberts Tramway  delivers visitors 1800 feet up the side of the mountain, above Juneau (map). On a clear day the view extends for miles along the Gastineau Channel. Snow still clings to mountaintops in July. Trails radiate from…

  • Flattop Mountain

    Chugach State Park, Anchorage, AK (July 2010) We didn’t plan to climb Flattop Mountain (map) that beautiful July morning. We had completely different plans, actually. The waiter during breakfast said we should go. The desk clerk at the hotel told us the same thing. The day was too perfect, too perfect!, to waste it on…

  • Ribeira Grande

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Ribeira Grande, translates to “Large Stream” in English. It serves as the main town on São Miguel’s northern coast (map). A large stream runs through town as the name implies. It provided power for grain mills in the early days of settlement, and a town flourished along…

  • Blue Mountains Waterfalls

    New South Wales, Australia (1997) We rode the Great Western Highway out from Sydney for about two hours until arriving at Katoomba, high in the Blue Mountains. Along the way we stopped at a roadside attraction known as Scenic World, which has managed to convert an abandoned coal mine into a stop for enjoying the…

  • Umpqua River Lighthouse & State Park

    Reedsport, Oregon, USA (May 1998) The Umpqua River Lighthouse seemed to be located surprisingly inland, further inland than any other lighthouse along the Oregon coast, about a half-mile from the shore it protects (map). An earlier lighthouse sat closer to the oceanfront on the other side of the river in 1857 but succumbed to fierce…

  • Jersey Shore, Part 3 (Lighthouses)

    I enjoy visiting lighthouses . They’re also one of those things I like to count and track. Of course I researched the most promising locations long before I ever got to the New Jersey coastline. This shore seemed particularly attractive so I sifted through a bunch of options and planned my strategy. I found several possibilities although I…

  • Australasian Adventures, Part 11 (Lists)

    We’re getting close to the end with this penultimate article in the Australasian series. Thank you for bearing with me. I thought I would shift my focus and provide an update on various lists that I maintain. I’m known to be a bit obsessive-compulsive and I tally visits to places or objects that I consider…

  • Australasian Adventures, Part 3 (Vistas)

    I’ve always liked climbing to the heights, whether by foot, automobile or elevator. Fortunately the parts of New Zealand and Australia we visited included many such opportunities. Some were man-made while others appeared as natural features on the magnificent terrain. Most days brought plenty of chances to appreciate the scenery in all kinds of different…

  • Rockies Loop, Part 4 (Elevation)

    Residents of Denver often call it the “Mile High City” because its downtown closely straddles the 5,280 foot (1,609 metre) barrier. The local baseball stadium even features a row of purple seats on its upper deck to mark the memorable elevation. While impressive to a flatland Easterner like me, it hardly compared to some of…

  • Rockies Loop, Part 3 (Towns)

    County counting scratched an important itch along my preferred route and it also offered an attractive side benefit; being able to stay in a lot of different Colorado towns. Each one displayed its own distinct personality. Admittedly I gained a skewed perspective at ski resorts without the snow or crowds although I didn’t have any…