Mt. Washington question

[blueridge]

Just in case the link goes away.

I think I can see Tom Brady in the pic, he looks awfully afraid of the Steeler Defense

 

[RGF1]

OK What is the maximum distance you can see. for differnt altitudes. I know the Vertical rise or how high you are from the surrounding area make a diffence . I have Been On Denali on a very clear day twice . I have no idea how I could see. I was guessing I could see into Paciffic past Anchorage . And I have been on the Grand Teton the Veiw is just amazing I know you can see over 140 miles only because I knew what I was looking at the same is true for Front Range 14 K peaks in CO if you look east. I have no idea how far you can see. I know you can see peaks over 150 away to the North From Longs Peak . From other but not all 14 K peaks the view sure seems much greater than from peaks here . I know from Pryamid Peak and the Bells I can see well over 120 miles. Becuase I know what I am looking at and the well known mountains are very obvious On Elous in the San Juans you can See Ship Rock in MN and from 13k Wheeler Peak In NM you can see Blanca peak in CO well over 100 kiles away .
On MT Adams I Know I have seen Montreals Lights at night . And on a Winter day I know I have seen Mt Marcy confrimed by a compass . I have also seen the Ski trails on Mansfiled with a Telephoto lens to confrim it .

Is there some Math formula to figure this out please make it easy to understand . I am sure there is . I also imagine you can figure in the quality of the atmosphere and other things .

All I know is that from 40,000 ft in a Airplane ie 757 you can see the curveture of the earth . I heard but am not sure but this is supposed visible at about 18, 000 ft or so I am not sure I saw this it on Denali been there 2X though I hear it is possible . ? Of maybe I did not know what I was looking for . I do know from Denali you can see quite a distance . I was told over 200 miles by a NPS ranger after my last climb on a rare clear and calm day . No I did not go up the West Buttress . So I cannot speak for that route . I can only say what I saw on my climb

 

[dom15931]

GO (or anyone else) can correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that the only peak on which you can see both Washington and Katahdin is Abraham, and that by the same token Abraham is the reason you can't see Washington from Katahdin and vice-versa.

it would be impossible to see washington from Katahdn or vice-versa. The distance is too great simply because of the curvature of the Earth. They are several hundred miles apart.

 

[Papa Bear]

Here's a question: last November when I climbed Gosford (Quebec - near the HH Boundary peak) with B&G and Cantdog. We could see Washington. I speculated this is the only point in Canada from which you can see Washington. but maybe it can be seen from some of the other boundary peaks such as Saddle or Marble or even Megantic further up in Quebec? Anyone know?

And has anyone seen Katahdin from Cadillac on MDI? Saw it once.

 

[DougPaul]

Is there some Math formula to figure this out please make it easy to understand . I am sure there is . I also imagine you can figure in the quality of the atmosphere and other things .

Yes, there is such an equation, unfortuantely I don't remember it.
IIRC, it is of the form of "constant * sqrt(height)"
Sailers use it, for instance, to calculate how far away they can see a lighthouse of known height. You might be able to find it by searching in sailing references.

Unfortunately, really clear days are less common than they used to be...

Doug

 

[jn316]

When conditions are right you can seen the moonlight glistening off the ocean from the summit of Washington; unfortunately it's been years since I've seen it that way. Washington is clearly visible from many places along the Maine coast, Biddeford Pool being one.

You can see Washington and Katahdin from Saddleback; it might be the first place north-bound through-hikers can see their goal. One Sept day when I was on Saddleback a couple of through-hikers arrived at the summit, and were thrilled to see for the first time where they had been headed since April.
You can see Washington from Megantic in Quebec.

 

[arghman]

Is there some Math formula to figure this out please make it easy to understand . I am sure there is . I also imagine you can figure in the quality of the atmosphere and other things .

Yes, there is such an equation, unfortuantely I don't remember it.
IIRC, it is of the form of "constant * sqrt(height)"
Sailers use it, for instance, to calculate how far away they can see a lighthouse of known height. You might be able to find it by searching in sailing references.

This is an application of the Pythagorean theorem (the old "a squared + b squared = c squared" thingy). If you draw a circle with the radius of the earth R, and a tower sticking up with height h, then draw a tangent line from the tower to the circle, and let "d" be the distance from the tower to this farthest point of view at the tangent point. This forms a right triangle with sides R and d, and hypoteneuse R+h. So the equation is d = sqrt((R+h)*(R+h) - R*R) = sqrt(h*h+2*R*h). For small towers/ships/mountains relative to the earth's diameter, you can simplify this (approximately) to get d = sqrt(2*R*h). The earth's average radius R = 6371km. So if you are on Mt Washington h = 1917m = 1.917km, so d = sqrt(2*6371*1.917)=156.3km.

This neglects variation in the earth's radius, as well as atmospheric haze and optical bending effects (I seem to remember that light can get bent along the edge of the atmosphere if you're talking hundreds of km)

 

[DougPaul]

This neglects variation in the earth's radius, as well as atmospheric haze and optical bending effects (I seem to remember that light can get bent along the edge of the atmosphere if you're talking hundreds of km)

IIRC, the standard formula includes a correction for the average atmospheric refraction. Of course, it can vary considerably depending on temp and humidity profiles.

I just derived the equation myself and got the same result as you did. (So it must be right. ) It was late last night and I had just gotten in from a hike...

This equation is for the sight-line between an elevated observer and a point at sea level, assuming that the earth is a perfect sphere. If you want the maximum visibility distance between two elevated points, add the sight-line distances for both points.

Doug

 

[--M.]

Wait! Stop! Go back and look at the photo!

Just in case the link goes away.

That's a simply amazing photo! I've never seen that view from there and it's breathtaking, even as a photo; one can only imagine seeing it personally!

Wow.

You may now resume your analytical dissection unmolested by my rank emotionalism.

Cheers, and thanks again, Blueridge!

--M.

 

[w7xman]

Long time lurker...first post...but I think I can clear up alot of ?'s on this thread...

Canada from mount washington...Easy...Mt. Orford is an quick spot over mt. clay at 86 miles...it's actually only just a bit farther than Jay (76Miles)...Megantic is visible as well, I think about 82 miles.

The ocean...I've added 2 more pics of the ocean that I got 2 years ago...one with a ship sailing into portland if you look close...

Farthest point seen from the summit...Mt. Whiteface in NY at ~129 miles...It's right on the downward slope on the right side of Camels Hump from the Observatory's deck. Although Marcy is farther, you can only see it with an inversion/artifically raised horizon, a type of mirage.

Hope that helps with some of the ?'s.

 

[Breeze]

And has anyone seen Katahdin from Cadillac on MDI? Saw it once.

Yes, I have seen Katahdin from the summit of Cadillac, perhaps 3 or 4 times in my lifetime ( please realize that in all of my growing-up I spent 4-6 weeks each summer in the Frenchman's Bay area, and I'm now past 50) so could pick and choose days to be on Caddy Summit.

I have seen Mt Washington clearly from some high points on the ridge roads en route from Belfast towards Waterville/ China Lakes/Fairfield.

I remember hearing my < late> grandfather insist that Washington was visible from Cadillac, but he was one of a kind

Understand that that was wayyyy before smog became an issue, going back to the early 1960's.

Breeze

 

[sapblatt]

Defense?

Just in case the link goes away.

I think I can see Tom Brady in the pic, he looks awfully afraid of the Steeler Defense

The Steelers had a defense? I did not notice...

 

[Rugger]

...Megantic is visible as well, I think about 82 miles.

Supposedly Mt Megantic is the only place you can see Mansfield, Washington and Katahdin.

 

[Mad Townie]

Can't see Washington from my office window in Portland today, but that's only because it's cloudy. On a clear day it's easily visible, and especially beautiful in the spring with snow on it. The ocean's just down the street on the other side of the building--I'm looking at it now (instead of working).

 

[blueridge]

The Steelers had a defense? I did not notice...

Ouch!

Maybe we will get another shot in January...or maybe I should forget football and go hike a mountain...

Enough about football (says the fan of the losing team) back to hikin' talk!

 

[sapblatt]

Enough about football (says the fan of the losing team) back to hikin' talk!

We won and I would still rather get back to hiking!!

 

[w7xman]

Supposedly Mt Megantic is the only place you can see Mansfield, Washington and Katahdin.

Never hiked it...but geographically it makes sense...

 

[hikerfast]

I have been on the summit of Washington on a couple crystal days where an observatory person said that the horizon you could see was definitely the ocean. I have seen the ocean a lot from Hampton beach.

 

[king tut]

Yes, I have seen Katahdin from the summit of Cadillac, perhaps 3 or 4 times in my lifetime ( please realize that in all of my growing-up I spent 4-6 weeks each summer in the Frenchman's Bay area, and I'm now past 50) so could pick and choose days to be on Caddy Summit.

I have seen Mt Washington clearly from some high points on the ridge roads en route from Belfast towards Waterville/ China Lakes/Fairfield.

I remember hearing my < late> grandfather insist that Washington was visible from Cadillac, but he was one of a kind

Understand that that was wayyyy before smog became an issue, going back to the early 1960's.

Breeze

I was biking on the carriage roads today and had a few good vantage points from the Around the Mt path that goes up near the top of Sargeant mt. I have noticed that there is a range that is just east or northeast of ellsworth that seems to be in the sight path of katahdin. They seem to be higher than cadillac or fairly close in height. Anyone know which range that is? I can say that I have yet to see katahdin from Acadia.

 

[Mike BIRD Mammy]

i saw......................................

lots of old ladies playing bingo up there! no ocean though..