Size Does Matter!..
Nestled on the horizon south of O-Town,and visible from the main hi-ways leading in and out of our humble hamlet,lie the world renowned Sutter Buttes!
'What makes them world renowned Sling?'...
Hey!..Do I interrupt you guys while you're talking?..Now I've lost my train of thought..
Oh yes,..the Sutter Buttes,named after that John Sutter character who discovered gold in California while searching for a shorter route to India,hold the singular distinction of being the smallest mountain range in the world!
I've nicked a photo of this natural wonder in it's entirety from Flikr,..for your shopping convenience.
Formed 1.5 million years ago from the eroded domes of an extinct volcano,'The Buttes',as we locals refer to them,are a mere 10 miles in diameter.
Compare that to South America's Andes mountains,the world's longest mountain range at 4,400 miles!
'But Sling,..what exactly constitutes a mountain range?..I mean,those just look like a bunch of scraggly hills to me..
Man,..you people are just intent on irritating me!..I should make you look it up,but I started this geekfest,and I'm gonna finish it.
..Those people that cloister themselves away in the halls of academia in an effort to resolve such questions,have unanimously agreed,(with the delegation from Kansas abstaining),that a mountain is a geologic formation,whose peak reaches a minimum height of 2,000 feet above sea level.
The tallest peak in our little formation,'South Butte',(they really racked their brains over naming that one),rises to the majestic height of 2,130 feet!..Putting the whole pile of rocks squarely in the record books.
Now,..you all have something to discuss during any awkward lulls in conversation that may occur over Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws..
Labels: I got nothin'..
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21 Bootleggers
21 Comments:
Hey have you ever seen that movie where the town folks pile a bunch of stuff on the top of their hill so it can be called a mountain? It was a good movie..I think...I might have been drunk...where am I ?
Sage- It's called,'The Englishman who went up a hill,and came down a mountain'..Good movie!..I totally tripped on that when I was told about the Buttes.
Damn, don't you hate it when people steal your comment before you make it?
Jan- HA!..I deliberately left that movie reference out of my post,so somebody else could use it.
Sage was on the Job!
..and I think she was drunk.
Gosh I hope I can trot this fact out during a game of Trivial Pursuit or something...
Thinker- Just remember me,when the scores are tied,and Alex Trebeck says,..'And the FINAL jeopardy answer is!'...
Ok....I'm gonna have to print this one and see if I can stump Steve. We live at 2100 feet in Sandpoint. Did you know we have more red blood cells than folks in the lowlands?
heeheee..you said butt
Well, at least they are taller than the mountains we have in Illinois! (Which are non-existent, of course.)
Wisconsin & Michigan actually have some small mountains--but not sure if they qualify as mountains under your definition--Rib Mountain in Wausau, WI and the Porcupine Mountains in MI.
But here in Chicago, we just have the man-made mountains like the Sears Tower. :)
Shit. if I'd waited just a littttle bit longer, I could've been drunk too. Well, at least significantly less sober. But no. I have to rush here with barely a glass of wine under my belt.
this is really cool. So those foothills behind me, those count as mountains? Do you know? Can you tell me? Can you put that geek stuff to good use?
Rosie- Don't you already know more than Steve?..no matter.
I actually did know about the red blood cell thing,what with them being needed to carry more oxygen at higher altitudes.
The 'valley' I lived in while in Colorado was over 7,000 feet.
Yellerdawg- You know,they laughed at Einstein when he said,'Pull my finger!'.. ;)
Miss HP- I spent 3 years in Kansas,where it is said you can see across the plains,all the way to a tree growing in Texas. :)
Booda Babe- The whole shebang depends on height above sea level,but I can tell you that,as a Slinglet,we spent more than one(2)family vacation at lovely Cachuma lake,which my Geek-O-Meter places in the mountains above Santa Barbara,shining in crystalline defiance to those upstart Buttes!
*I should note here,in all geekiness,that my post only refers to terrestrial records.
The Mid-Atlantic ridge,located under the ocean,makes the Andes look like,..well,..the Buttes.
How have i lived all these years without ever once haring about Sutter Buttes? thanks for enlightening on this important information.
My friend, I wish I had this much goin' on when I have a blog post that has the label "I got nothin'".
Pure Slingery here.
wow, richard dreyfus built a bigger mountain in close encounters.
Mom- One just can't have too much information stuffed in their bag o' trivia,I always say!
Well,..I really never say that,but I'm going to start.
Rainey- 'Slingery'..I love it! :)
Billy P.- ..and he ended up being abducted by aliens!..That's what he gets.
I liked that movie, too.
I've always noticed that whenever I post photos of the Great Smoky Mountains someone always feels compelled to try to tell me they aren't "real" mounatins because they live in the west and know "real" mounatins. I always feel a little offended on behalf of my much more ancient and worn Smokies being compared to young upstart mounatin ranges.
Secret Agent Woman- You just tell me who's talking down our venerable Smokies,and I'll go jerk a knot in their tailbone!
The countryside looks so different to ours - but still beautiful.
Well that was so fascinating I’ll have to re-read the bits that I skipped.
But seriously tho, Im wondering if we can rename this place straub peak. Hm.
Hi Sling,
Now I have something important to say at dinner.
~janet
Happy Thanksgiving!
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