RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Mono County >> Upper Town >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Upper Town:
    • 38.354362, -119.117927
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Upper Town
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Mono County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mono County
    • Since Upper Town is near Lyon County and also Mineral County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral County
  • 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Upper Town

Communities Also Named Upper Town ...

We found one communities that are also named Upper Town.

Within California, the name Upper Town is unique.

Beyond California, there is another community also named Upper Town in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Upper Town [Nye County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Upper Town ...

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.

  • Aurora ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Aurora is located in Mineral County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
  • Chinatown ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Chinatown is located in Mono County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • Dog Town ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Dog Town is located in Mono County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
  • Elbow Stage Station ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Elbow Stage Station is located in Lyon County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbow Stage Station
  • Esmeralda ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Esmeralda is located in Mineral County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmeralda
  • Lower Town
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Lower Town is located in Mono County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Town
  • Masonic ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Masonic is located in Mono County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonic
  • Sweetwater ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sweetwater is located in Lyon County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
  • Willow Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Willow Springs is located in Mono County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

How Far From Upper Town to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Upper Town once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Upper Town and extending to:

  • Bridgeport, which is the Seat of Mono County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Upper Town to Bridgeport, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 128 miles [206 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,249 miles [3,619.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,313 miles [11,769.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,081 miles [13,005.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,107 miles [9,828.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Upper Town, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Upper Town) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Upper Town to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Upper Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3544, Longitude: -119.1179       In this case, the coordinates for Upper Town have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.505 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.944 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.15 degrees.