Chimborazo: The Highest Mountain in the World

David Torres Costales Chimborazo Riobamba Ecuador Montaña Mas Alta del Mundo

That is, if you measure from the center of the earth. This extinct stratovolcano is 20,549 feet above sea level, but because it lies on the equator in Ecuador, it sits in the maximum part of the Earth’s equatorial bulge. Its peak is the farthest from Earth’s center, and the closest point on our planet to the Sun. Measured from sea level, it is only the 37th highest in the Andes. Aconcagua in Chile at 22,283 feet is the highest.

David Torres Costales Chimborazo Riobamba Ecuador Montaña Mas Alta del Mundo

The biggest mountain in the world by far is Denali, in Alaska. It is a “mere” 20,310 feet high, but it rises from a 2,000 foot base with an immense bulk that dwarfs all other mountains in the world. Denali means “the great one” in the indigenous Koyukon language. However…

If you include the undersea part of mountains, the Big Island of Hawai’i, topped by Mauna Kea at 13,803 feet above sea level, is even taller and bigger, rising more than 32,000 feet from the depths. In geologic terms it is a youngster, only about a million years old.

Yellowstone National Park in Winter

two hikers with x-country skiis in yellowstone in a snowy winter

Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 7:30PM

Join Holly Adams as she tells us about exploring an area that has been termed, “The Land of Fire and Ice”: Yellowstone N P in winter. Using a seasonal yurt camp in Canyon Village as a base, travel by snow coach and x-country skis to visit iconic landmarks such as the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful and the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River in snowy, winter solitude and without the hordes of summer tourists.

Travel by x-country skis into the backcountry to explore thermal areas and their mud pots, fumaroles, and geysers that are completely off-limit to the summer visitors. View plant and non-hibernating wildlife and discover adaptations that make survival in the subzero winters possible. Finally, return to the town of West Yellowstone to ski groomed areas – one which follows the Madison River back into a corner of the park.

Information on upcoming outdoor events, conservation news and trail maintenance will be available. Everyone is welcome.  Contact coordinator with any questions.

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National Park Service issues draft plan for Water Gap, invites public comment, schedules meetings

A group hiking with clouds in the background

Plan includes new camp sites, facilities, entrance fees.

The National Park Service has issued a draft Visitor Use Management Plan for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River. The draft plan is available for public review and comment for  until December 6, 2019 at their web site.

In addition proposing an to an entrance fee, which has yet to be established, the plan also proposes a park-specific seven-day pass: $25 for a vehicle, $15 for a person, and $20 for a motorcycle,  and a $45 annual pass. The new entrance fee would mean changes to existing amenity fees and the park’s entrance stations. The plan calls for expansion and improvement of visitor facilities and amenities, including additional river camp sites.

In addition to public comment submitted on line and by mail, there will be two public meetings:

Thursday, October 24, 6 – 8 PM, Bushkill Volunteer Fire Company Hall, 124 Evergreen Drive, Bushkill, PA 18324

Saturday, October 26, 1-3 PM, Sussex County Technical School Auditorium, 105 North Church Road, Sparta, NJ 07871

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