Wonders of America

Waumbek's stamp avatar comes from the 'Wonders of America' Stamp series, recently released.

They can all be viewed in VERY large format at:

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_028.htm

including these hiking related Wonders:

Windiest Place: Mount Washington
Longest Hiking Trail: Pacific Crest Trail
Oldest Mountains: Appalachians
Largest Canyon: Grand Canyon
Longest Mountain Chain: Rocky Mountains
Hottest Spot: Death Valley
Tallest Trees: Coast Redwoods

I've got to go out and buy this set *TODAY*!

Tom Rankin said:

Windiest Place: Mount Washington
Longest Hiking Trail: Pacific Crest Trail
Oldest Mountains: Appalachians
Largest Canyon: Grand Canyon
Longest Mountain Chain: Rocky Mountains
Hottest Spot: Death Valley
Tallest Trees: Coast Redwoods

Click to expand...

Oh great, another "list". Don't buy 'em til you've bagged 'em.
I'm 5 out of 7; need PCT and DV...

Chip said:

Oh great, another "list". Don't buy 'em til you've bagged 'em.
I'm 5 out of 7; need PCT and DV...

Click to expand...

LOL! You made me realize I've been on or near parts of all 7!

Where do I send away for my patch?!

I'd add a bunch to the "hiking-related" list. All of these have excellent hiking opportunities nearby or can be hiked to:

Highest Sea Cliffs: Moloka'i
Largest Glacier: Bering Glacier
Tallest Dunes: Great Sand Dunes
Deepest Lake: Crater Lake
Oldest Trees: Bristlecone Pines
Tallest Waterfall: Yosemite Falls
Largest Desert: Great Basin
Tallest Geyser: Steamboat
Largest Natural Bridge: Rainbow Bridge
Tallest Trees: Coast Redwoods

-dave-

Tom Rankin said:

Oldest Mountains: Appalachians

Click to expand...

The Taconics are older than the Appalachians as far as I know. I will consult Jess (Rosinante - geologist).

-Dr. Wu

I think the Taconics (and the Berkshires) are considered a part of the appalachian mountain chain.... But I'm no geologist...

One huge plateau at one point until the glaciers carved valleys down (i.e. the Hudson river and the Hudson River valley and separated them all into seperate mountain chains...

On googling:

http://www.priweb.org/ed/TFGuide/NE/geo_history/geologichistory.pdf

Check out pages 20-21...

Seems to suggest the Taconics mountains (or volcanos???) appear after the Grenville Mtns and before the Acadian Mtns but then they are wiped out after Baltica collides with ancient North America. Pushes up Avalonia (which is most of New England proper (east of NY) and the Iapetus Plateau which appears mostly NY (ADKs, catskills, Hudson valley).

Perhaps the modern day "Taconics" is not the same as the Taconics mountains that is listed as 544-440 million years ago, earlier than the appalachians in that PDF file.???


Jay

I believe the Taconics are a range within the broader Appalachian mountain system.

The think Appalachians get younger the further south you go towards Georgia. Also, older further west, so the Taconics are older than the Whites and the mountains of Maine and so on...

But I'm also an amatuer geologist at best, but I think thats what I remember from a couple of my classes of the past few years.

But either way, COOL STAMPS!!