Trailspace Blog April 2007
New Feature: Forum Quick Reply
Just a quick note to let you know about a new feature in the Trailspace forums: we've added a "quick reply" form the the bottom of each thread, so that you can post a reply without leaving the discussion. Note: this feature is only available to registered members.
Andrew Skurka Tackles the "Great Western Loop"
Long-distance hiker Andrew Skurka, best known for his 2005 Sea-to-Sea hike, is at it again.
Yesterday morning Skurka departed from Grandview Point in Grand Canyon National Park in his attempt to complete an unsupported thru-hike of the previously unhiked Great Western Loop.
His 6,875-mile route will follow sections of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and several other long-distance footpaths, as well as a 675-mile trailless section through the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. Skurka plans to average more than 30 miles a day, passing through 12 National Parks and more than 75 wilderness areas before arriving back at Grandview Point in late October.
For more info about the route, and updates from the trail, check out andrewskurka.com.
Chimborazo...the “Highest” Spot on Earth?
Mount Everest at 29,035 feet is the highest spot above sea level on Earth. But, what if instead of looking for the highest spot above sea level you wanted to find the spot on Earth closest to the moon, the stars, and outer space (not a bad reason to climb a mountain). You’d probably still head to Everest, right? Wrong.
It turns out that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It’s an “oblate spheroid,” which means it has a bulge circling the Earth just below the equator. So if you stand in that part of the world you’re already “higher,” or closer to outer space, than someone not on the bulge—13 miles closer than someone at the North or South pole. Head to a mountain on that bulge and you’re even higher.
So if you want to get to the spot farthest from the center of the Earth, and closest to the stars, climb to the top of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, located just one degree south of the equator. Chimborazo is 20,560 feet above sea level, but when mathematicians calculate in that bulge it’s 1.5 miles closer to outer space than Everest.
I learned all of this in a fascinating story on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” this morning. You can see the full story at NPR.
It would be interesting to see a second type of “highest” summits list. After all, for how long have people been climbing mountains to get closer to the stars?
Spring Cleaning
Spring is a season of renewal in the outdoors, and it is here at Trailspace too. This afternoon we launched a partial redesign of the the site, featuring a new color scheme (goodbye grey, hello blue), clearer navigation between and within major sections of the site, and the debut of our redesigned logo and tagline. This also sets the stage for more thorough overhauls of various pages -- the news section and home page in particular.
We've tried to be thorough in our testing, but if you see anything amiss please leave a comment so we can get it fixed. Thanks!
« Previous blog posts | Later blog posts »
