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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 Balder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balder 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 Balder:
- 47.182671, -117.405468
- 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 Balder
- 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 Whitman County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Whitman County
- Since Balder is near Spokane County and also Benewah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Spokane County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Benewah 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 Balder
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balder ...
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.
- Cashup
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cashup is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashup
- Crabtree
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Crabtree is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabtree
- Freedom
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Freedom is located in Spokane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
- Juno
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Juno is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
- Lone Pine
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Lone Pine is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
- Pine City ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pine City is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
- Spring Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Valley is located in Spokane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Steptoe
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Sunset
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sunset is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
How Far From Balder 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 Balder to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Balder and extending to:
- Colfax, which is the Seat of Whitman County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Balder to Colfax, with an average speed<3> 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 258 miles [415.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,090 miles [3,363.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 82 days and walking would take 119 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,717 miles [10,810 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,484 miles [12,044.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,555 miles [8,939.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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- Balder) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Balder 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 Balder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.1827, Longitude: -117.4055 In this case, the coordinates for Balder have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.805 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.687 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.596 degrees. |
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