Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in East Altoona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to East Altoona and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for East Altoona
- 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 East Altoona:
- 40.547291, -78.364736
- 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 East Altoona
- 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 Blair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blair County
- Since East Altoona is near Cambria County and also Huntingdon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cambria County
- eBird sighting report for Huntingdon 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near East Altoona ...
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.
- Canoe Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canoe Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoe Creek
- Canoe Creek is located in Blair County
- Coupon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Cross Keys
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Keys have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
- Cross Keys is located in Blair County
- Eldorado
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Flowing Spring
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flowing Spring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowing Spring
- Flowing Spring is located in Blair County
- Greenwood
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Highland Fling
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Fling
- Highland Fling is located in Blair County
- Homer Gap
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Mill Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Roots
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Sickles Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sickles Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sickles Corner
- Sickles Corner is located in Blair County
- Stiffler
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
How Far From East Altoona 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 East Altoona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in East Altoona and extending to:
- Hollidaysburg, which is the Seat of Blair County, lies just to the South.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<3> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from East Altoona to Harrisburg, 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.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 133 miles [214 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,882 miles [9,466.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,597 miles [10,616.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,473 miles [7,198.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for East Altoona. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- East Altoona) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in East Altoona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5473, Longitude: -78.3647 In this case, the coordinates for East Altoona have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 East Altoona 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 308.58 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.477 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.652 degrees. |