Category: Terrain
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National Preserves
I mentioned 12MC reader Scott a couple of weeks ago in reference to the Park You Cannot Visit. He also set me up with a lot of other National Park Service trivia that I’ll cover from time-to-time as I’m able to work it into the publication schedule. As an example, he wondered if I’d ever…
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The Loneliest Road in the USA
What is the “Loneliest Road in America?” Life Magazine claimed that it was the stretch of U.S. Route 50 running through Nevada, in a 1986 article. I don’t know if anyone still claims that today, or if it was even true twenty-five years ago. Additionally, there are probably far lonelier roads in Australia and Canada…
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Utah Adventure, Part 4
Did someone say “Utah Adventures?” I focused our efforts primarily on northern Utah but I did slop across the borders of neighboring states. I will concentrate on some of those meanderings in this final installment. Nevada I wrote about my quick jaunt to Nevada earlier so I won’t rehash that story again (map). It wasn’t…
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Utah Adventure, Part 3
The latest installment is about salt. It’s hard to talk about northern Utah without eventually turning our attention to salt. The vast white expanse on the left half of this satellite image is a gigantic salt patch. This forms the Great Salt Lake Desert. The smaller greenish-blue area in the upper-right is the salt water…
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Utah Adventure, Part 2
I’m now well into the Utah trip and we’ve shifted our focus from the mountains to the desert. Golden Spike National Historic Site The Golden Spike National Historic Site marks the point of completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States in 1869. It’s in the middle of nowhere. I am not exaggerating…
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Utah Adventure, Part 1
The hunt for geo-oddities in northern Utah is well underway. The family will want to visit more recognizable sights so I’ll have to mix in a few “normal” tourist activities along the way. I have to maintain a careful balance. Thus I need just enough to keep them entertained while giving me an opportunity to…
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Practical Exclaves of Andorra
I noticed something interesting when I created a recent article, Highest Lowpoints. Andorra is small, mountainous and trapped firmly between Spain and France. Thus it creates all sorts of interesting opportunities for practical exlaves and near-misses. Most of you are probably aware of practical exclaves. Others readers may require a quick summary. First, an exclave…
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Alien Encounters
Aliens have left their imprint on the landscape, at least according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names. I conducted a search on the Geographic Names Information System and encountered undeniable proof of two alien lifeforms among their 2,199,977 records. All joking aside, I don’t actually think the USGS is in cahoots with…
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Cog Railways
Many years ago my fiancé (now wife) and I traveled through northern New England for two weeks. That was long ago. We actually tent-camped our way through a string of rustic state parks with few amenities. It changed to Bed-and-Breakfasts Inns after our marriage. Then it changed again to whatever hotel happened to have an…
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Highest Lowpoints
There’s a tendency to wonder about the highest point of land as one examines an area from afar. People make quite a hobby out of of collecting visits to those highpoints even for remarkably small subunits. I’ve been know to do that myself and I’ve featured the results of my efforts on these very pages.…