Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shafter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shafter and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shafter
- 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:
- 29.818418, -104.30637
- 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
- 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 Presidio County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Presidio 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 Shafter ...
We found six communities that share the name Shafter.
Within Texas, the name Shafter is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kern County
- This Shafter is located in Kern County and lies 953 miles [1,533.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shafter that is located in Presidio County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Shafter.
- Marin County
- This Shafter is located in Marin County and lies 1,193 miles [1,919.9 km] to the northwest of the Shafter that is located in Presidio County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of Shafter.
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nevada
- California
How Far From Shafter 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 to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shafter and extending to:
- Marfa, which is the Seat of Presidio County, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shafter to Marfa, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 393 miles [632.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,668 miles [2,684.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 66 days and walking would take 95 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,417 miles [11,936.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,163 miles [13,137.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,050 miles [9,736.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shafter. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Shafter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shafter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8184, Longitude: -104.3064 |
| <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, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Shafter to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 324.681 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.755 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.307 degrees. |