|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Helix, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helix 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 Helix:
- 45.850495, -118.658720
- 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 Helix
- 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 Umatilla County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Umatilla County
- Since Helix is near Walla Walla County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Walla Walla County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Benton 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 Helix
Communities Also Named Helix ...
We found two communities that are also named Helix.
Within Oregon, the name Helix is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- San Diego County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Helix [San Diego County].
- Indiana
- Orange County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Helix [Orange County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Helix ...
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.
- Apex
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Apex is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- Crockett
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Crockett is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
- Ferndale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ferndale is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Havana
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Havana is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Holdman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Holdman is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdman
- Milton - Freewater
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mission
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mission is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Prunedale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prunedale is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prunedale
- Ring
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ring is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ring
- Sunnyside
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sunnyside is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
- Thorn Hollow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Thorn Hollow is located in Umatilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hollow
- Touchet
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
How Far From Helix 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 Helix to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Helix and extending to:
- Pendleton, which is the Seat of Umatilla County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Helix to Pendleton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 221 miles [355.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,151 miles [3,461.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 84 days and walking would take 123 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,825 miles [10,983.8 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 7,591 miles [12,216.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,665 miles [9,116.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'
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 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 Helix 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Helix) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Helix 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 Helix. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8505, Longitude: -118.6587 In this case, the coordinates for Helix have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.755 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.703 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.514 degrees. |
|
|