Umnak (Alaska) - Tidbits, Odds-and-Ends

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy).

When in Umnak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Umnak and the surrounding area.

Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Umnak

Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Umnak:
- 53.266667, -168.216667
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Umnak

Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com

How Far From Umnak to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Umnak to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Umnak and extending to:

Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 1,341 miles [2,158.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Umnak to Juneau, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 77 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 53 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 4,171 miles [6,712.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 9 days, a buggy would take 163 days and walking would take 237 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,390 miles [10,283.7 km] and it lies to the north northwest (NNW).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,005 miles [11,273.5 km] and it lies to the north northwest (NNW).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,857 miles [9,425.9 km] and it lies to the north (N).<6>

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Umnak. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Alaska: alaska.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>	Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Umnak) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Umnak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 53.2667, Longitude: -168.2167 In this case, the coordinates for Umnak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>	While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<3>	The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Umnak to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<4>	The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 19.795 degrees.
<5>	The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 26.523 degrees.
<6>	The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 0.501 degrees.