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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 Friday Harbor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Friday Harbor and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Friday Harbor:
    • 48.534220, -123.016889
    • 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 Friday Harbor
  • 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 Friday Harbor ...

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.

  • Argyle
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Argyle is located in San Juan County
  • Deer Harbor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Doe Bay
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doe Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay
    • Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
  • Dolphin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dolphin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin
    • Dolphin is located in San Juan County
  • False Bay
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gordon Head
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon Head came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Head
  • Oak Bay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Bay came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bay
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Bay <1>
  • Orcas
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Urban
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
    • Urban is located in Skagit County
  • Yacht Haven
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yacht Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yacht Haven
    • Yacht Haven is located in San Juan County

How Far From Friday Harbor 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 town such as Friday Harbor to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Friday Harbor and extending to:

  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<4> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Friday Harbor to Olympia, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,350 miles [3,782 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,723 miles [10,819.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,483 miles [12,042.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,622 miles [9,047.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>

The official website for Friday Harbor: www.fridayharbor.org/

The official website for San Juan County: www.co.san-juan.wa.us/

The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/

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>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.
<3>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>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- Friday Harbor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Friday Harbor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.5342, Longitude: -123.0169    
<5>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.
<6>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 Friday Harbor to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.482 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.18 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.14 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024