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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sapphire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sapphire and the surrounding area.
- 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 Sapphire:
- 35.107037, -83.002920
- 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 Sapphire
- 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 Transylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Transylvania County
- Since Sapphire is near Jackson County and also Oconee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Oconee 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 Sapphire
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sapphire ...
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.
- Bear Wallow Hollow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bear Wallow Hollow is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Wallow Hollow
- Cane Brake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cane Brake is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Brake
- Cashiers
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fox Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fox Ridge is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Ridge
- Glenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Island Ford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Island Ford is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Ford
- Ridge Haven
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ridge Haven is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Haven
- Round Mountain
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Round Mountain is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Mountain
- Union
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Union is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Wolf Mountain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Wolf Mountain is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Mountain
- Wolf Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf Ridge is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Ridge
How Far From Sapphire 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 Sapphire to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sapphire and extending to:
- Brevard, which is the Seat of Transylvania County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sapphire to Brevard, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 249 miles [400.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 420 miles [675.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,318 miles [10,167.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,022 miles [11,300.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,899 miles [7,884.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sapphire) 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 Sapphire 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 Sapphire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1070, Longitude: -83.0029 In this case, the coordinates for Sapphire have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.481 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.981 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.392 degrees. |
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