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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Keen Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Keen Mountain 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 Keen Mountain:
- 37.202334, -81.986238
- 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 Keen Mountain
- 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- Since Keen Mountain is near Russell County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Keen Mountain
Curious and Interesting Names Near Keen Mountain ...
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.
- Deel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Deel is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deel
- Dwight
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Dwight is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
- Hanger
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hanger is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanger
- Horn
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Horn is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn
- Janey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Janey is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janey
- Marvin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Marvin is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
- Mount Heron
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Mount Heron is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Heron
- Page
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Page is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
- Shack Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Shack Mills is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shack Mills
How Far From Keen Mountain 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 community such as Keen Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Keen Mountain and extending to:
- Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Keen Mountain to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 293 miles [471.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,180 miles [9,945.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,890 miles [11,088.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,766 miles [7,670.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Keen Mountain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Keen Mountain 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 Keen Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2023, Longitude: -81.9862 In this case, the coordinates for Keen Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.89 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.606 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.373 degrees. |
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