Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rachel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rachel and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rachel
- 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 Rachel:
- 37.645432, -115.746939
- 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 Rachel
- 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 Lincoln County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Rachel ...
We found two communities that share the name Rachel.
Within Nevada, the name Rachel is unique.
Beyond Nevada, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Carolina
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rachel ...
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.
- Crystal Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
- Crystal Springs is located in Lincoln County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Crystal Springs
- From Rachel to Crystal Springs
- Groom ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Sundown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Rachel to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rachel to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rachel and extending to:
- Pioche, which is the Seat of Lincoln County, lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could drive a straight line from Rachel to Pioche, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- Carson City, which is the State Capital of Nevada, lies 241 miles [387.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,084 miles [3,353.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 82 days and walking would take 119 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,283 miles [11,720.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,052 miles [12,958.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,042 miles [9,723.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rachel: www.rachel-nevada.com/
The official website for Lincoln County: www.co.lincoln.nv.us/
The official website for State of Nevada: https://nv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Rachel 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 county. 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. |
| <2> | 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- Rachel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rachel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6454, Longitude: -115.7469 |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Rachel to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 334.666 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.494 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.165 degrees. |