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If you do a Google search of "samson whitney Gorgonio" there is a report of a John Samson who photographed San Gorgonio from the top of Mt Whitney for a distance of 190 miles.
And one fellow writing about the record says there are over 200-mile records in Alaska from Mt. McKinley. I could point out a discussion of the line-of-sight record, but I don't think links are allowed here.
There's a high ridge just west of Limon, CO called the Palmer Divide. At that point, you're nearly 70 miles east of Denver out on the prairie.
On a clear day, you can see the entire Front Range, from the peaks up by the Wyoming line all the way down to the twin Spanish Peaks at Trinidad, on the New Mexico line. The Front Range is 300 miles long in Colorado and the straight line distance from the Divide down to Trinidad can't be less than 150 miles.
If you're headed west in the lower part of the state, Pikes Peak is the first mountain you'll see because it juts out into the praire farther than any other moutain. When it's clear, you can easily see it from 150 miles or so.
The old formula for line-of-sight, traditionally used for wireless antennae, is 1.23 times the square root of the height in feet gives you the distance in miles. So if the mountain is 5,000 ft, you should be able to see it from 87 miles. I know that the atmosphere bends light somewhat, so you may be able to see it from a greater distance.
It's pretty easy to see 70 - 80 miles across the Tennessee Valley on a clear day. I suppose if you found a good line of sight at an angle across the valley you could see 100+ miles.
Supposedly you can see KY / VA from lookout mountain in Chattanooga, 120 miles away.
Its called a "view shed"...the distance you can see from the peak of mountain or hill.
Mt Diablo in the Bay Area is often called the "Island Mountain" because its located right at the edge of the flat central valley. And so although its height of 3,849 ft isnt that tall compared to other California elevations, its view shed is one of the largest in the west.
I go to school in Newark NJ and from the 4th floor up (the building's on a hill and entered on the third and 1st levels) there's a view of the Atlantic Highlands, the Wachung Mountains (which Newark's almost in anyway), the Bayonne Bridge, and of course NYC (I still can't believe all the places I can see the Empire State Building from!) here in NJ, which take a good 40 minuets to get to. Being from South Jersey, being able to see mountains on a daily basis is such a strange thing for me.
Too funny cause Im the complete opposite-it weird to not see mountains and hills nearby..LOL
Haha, I feel like such a dork, but it boggles my mind seeing Mountains and Palm Trees.
I love it. People who have the opportunity to see mountains or have a city with a mountain backdrop truely are lucky. It just gives you such a sense of belonging and it really humbles you being around such massive earthly features. Being in Vegas, i mentioned to my friend who lives there "Man, those mountains are awesome, it looks like you can reach out and touch them" --- He responded with "Yeah, funny thing is is that they are over 50 miles away"
And Palm Trees, off topic I know, but still very cool features to have. Maybe it's because 5 months out of the year our trees are dead.
Well, in our area, we don't have any mountains, but our highest bridge (the Arthur Ravenel Bridge), 186 feet above the Cooper River and Charleston Harbor gives some great views.
They're not like they are on a mountain. You can see Folly Beach clearly, about 10 miles away. On a good day, you can probably see 15-20 miles from the top of the road bed. If you have the chance to go to the top of the span, 575 feet above the water, you can see 30 miles.
Coming off of our local beach, Folly Beach, on a good day (about 10 miles), you can clearly see the twin spans. If you go over the bridge that heads to John's Island (11 miles), that's about the farthest you can see the bridge. At night, you can see the lights from 30 miles out in the ocean.
If you travel up to the top of Mt. Rosa in Switzerland, you can see all the way across the Mediterranean to the island of Corsica, which is more than 250 miles away.
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