Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy).
When in Whittier, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whittier and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Whittier
- 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 Whittier:
- 60.774627, -148.685968
- 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 Whittier
- 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
Communities Also Named Whittier ...
We found nine communities that share the name Whittier.
Within Alaska, the name Whittier is unique.
Beyond Alaska, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Whittier ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Golden
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast) - Hope
(33 miles [53.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <4>
- Indian
(31 miles [49.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian <4>
- Moose Pass
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moose Pass
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moose Pass <4>
- Silvertip
(23 miles [37 km] to the west) - Sunrise
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise
How Far From Whittier 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 city such as Whittier to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Whittier and extending to:
- Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 526 miles [846.5 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Whittier to Juneau, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 30 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 21 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 3,322 miles [5,346.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 7 days, a buggy would take 130 days and walking would take 189 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,034 miles [9,710.8 km] and it lies to the north (N).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,733 miles [10,835.7 km] and it lies to the north (N).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,259 miles [8,463.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Whittier: www.ci.whittier.ak.us/
The official website for State of Alaska: alaska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Whittier) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whittier. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 60.7746, Longitude: -148.6860 |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Whittier could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong . Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Whittier to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 3.336 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 7.989 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 345.654 degrees. |