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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 Balch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balch 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 Balch:
- 46.814543, -123.243202
- 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 Balch
- 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 Grays Harbor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Grays Harbor County
- Since Balch is near Thurston County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Thurston County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis 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 Balch
Communities Also Named Balch ...
We found five communities that are also named Balch.
There is one other community in Washington that is also named Balch.
Beyond Washington, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Located In Washington ...
- Pierce 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 Washington community of Balch [Pierce County].
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Jackson County
- This Balch is located in Jackson County and lies 1,828 miles [2,941.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Balch that is located in Grays Harbor County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Balch.
- California
- San Bernardino County
- This Balch is located in San Bernardino County and lies 894 miles [1,438.8 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Balch that is located in Grays Harbor County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Balch.
- Michigan
- Kalamazoo 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 Michigan community of Balch [Kalamazoo County].
- Lenawee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Balch [Lenawee County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balch ...
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.
- Bordeaux ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
- Bunker
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bunker is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker
- Cedarville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Elk Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elk Creek is located in Pacific County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
- Grand Mound
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Greenwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Greenwood is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Independence
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Independence is located in Thurston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Littlerock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mays ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mays is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays
- Michigan Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Michigan Hill is located in Thurston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Hill
How Far From Balch 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 Balch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Balch and extending to:
- Montesano, which is the Seat of Grays Harbor County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Balch to Montesano, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,365 miles [3,806.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 135 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,839 miles [11,006.3 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 7,600 miles [12,231 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,728 miles [9,218.3 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Balch 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Balch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Balch 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 Balch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.8145, Longitude: -123.2432 In this case, the coordinates for Balch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.592 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.225 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.413 degrees. |
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