Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shafter Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shafter Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shafter Lake
- 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 Shafter Lake:
- 32.404550, -102.666003
- 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 Shafter Lake
- 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 Andrews County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Andrews County
- Since Shafter Lake is near Gaines County and also Lea County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gaines County
- eBird sighting report for Lea 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 Shafter Lake ...
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.
- Coyote Corner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coyote Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyote Corner
- Coyote Corner is located in Andrews County
- Jones City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones City
- Jones City is located in Lea County (NM)
- Maypens
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maypens
- Maypens is located in Lea County (NM)
- Nadine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Shafter Lake 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 Shafter Lake 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<2> community of Shafter Lake once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Shafter Lake and extending to:
- Andrews, which is the Seat of Andrews County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 325 miles [523 km]<3> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Shafter Lake to Austin, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 19 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,500 miles [2,414 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 86 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,215 miles [11,611.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,963 miles [12,815.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,853 miles [9,419.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Andrews County: www.co.andrews.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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> | 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 Shafter Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Shafter Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shafter Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.4046, Longitude: -102.6660 In this case, the coordinates for Shafter Lake 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 Shafter Lake 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 323.939 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.166 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 317.413 degrees. |