Weird Map Stuff

[Noun Sequitur]

Crappy day at work folks! Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, someone post something cool, quick!

I'll start. So with the advent of Google Maps (aka backcountrypost.com maps), I've found tons of cool and weird stuff begging to be explored. So I (we) am (are) going to post some screen grabs for discussion. Then, if anyone has a pic of what the area actually looks like from the ground, please post it so we can solve these mysteries. Ready? My current theme is 'strange arcs and circles'.

Everyone knows Upheaval Dome:


But here's a cool one I never would have noticed from the ground. Note how the Behind-the-rocks area near Moab seams to circle around a mysterious focus point. Alien landing site? Energy portal? Dimensional rift? Or just a boring geological explaination? Who knows? Whatever it is, it's a great excuse to go and investigate!


Right across the valley near Kens Lake is another mysterious arc:


Needles is full of them. The Grabens:


And another double arc a bit to the East:


So have you found any wild and crazy stuff on teh map that needs to be investigated?

 

[Nick]

The aerial of Antelope Canyon is pretty wild. It's such a huge open wash, then it's just a tiny slot for a short bit, then huge open wash again...

 

[Noun Sequitur]

Wow I didn't know that, looks different than all the pictures I see the wash goes on for quite a ways and slots up a couple more times after that.

 

[Nick]

According to the latest Google Terrain View, the silt problem in Lake Powell is worse than anyone ever guessed!



I guess there's no need for the ferry anymore...

 

[slc_dan]

I almost made it to this spot on a trip in June, but came up a bit short. It's just begging to be explored. I'm sure people have explored it, but I think it's more popular for guys with ropes. It's just south of the confluence of The Gulch, and the Escalante river.

here basically.


View Larger Map

 

[regehr]

I love this post! More weird stuff needed.

 

[regehr]

I almost made it to this spot on a trip in June, but came up a bit short. It's just begging to be explored. I'm sure people have explored it, but I think it's more popular for guys with ropes. It's just south of the confluence of The Gulch, and the Escalante river.

here basically.


View Larger Map

Spencer canyon! I think there's a walking route in.

 

[slc_dan]

Spencer canyon! I think there's a walking route in.

That whole area looks really interesting. I walked around the Redbreaks area with @NateGeesaman, and was really surprised at the amazing topography.

 

[regehr]

Yeah this whole area is super fascinating. I haven't spent enough time there. Going to be in the vicinity this coming weekend but the forecast looks poor for slot canyons! Storm-friendly hiking ideas appreciated.

 

[slc_dan]

Yeah this whole area is super fascinating. I haven't spent enough time there. Going to be in the vicinity this coming weekend but the forecast looks poor for slot canyons! Storm-friendly hiking ideas appreciated.

The roads would be my biggest concern, but good storms mean great weather watching. The best, and biggest variety of clouds come out for monsoon season. The Redbreaks area would be fine, as long as you hung out on the plateau and not the slots. The slots were really fun though. I thought the Escalvcano-Cosmic Navel-Cosmic Ashtray-thing was cool enough to warrant the hike, but the whole hike was incredible.


Red Breaks Henry BeeHive GSENM by slc_dan, on Flickr


Red Breaks mesa 3 GSENM by slc_dan, on Flickr

 

[regehr]

Dan, the Red Breaks mesa area looks really nice. Yeah, not much we can do about the roads except be ready to wait a while...

 

[uintahiker]

N 40° 55.104 W 111° 51.511
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=N 40° 55.104 W 111° 51.511&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.918406,-111.858584&spn=0.000422,0.000871&sll=40.780667,-111.835168&sspn=0.000598,0.000871&t=h&z=21
Pretty cool spot east of Centerville. Check it out in the maps, you'll need to zoom in.
N 40° 46.840 W 111° 50.110
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=N 40° 46.840 W 111° 50.110&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.780667,-111.835168&spn=0.000598,0.000871&sll=40.918402,-111.858662&sspn=0.000597,0.000871&t=h&z=21
Another one by the U in SLC.
Enjoy!

No luck embedding the maps, but the links will get you there.

 

[Noun Sequitur]

According to the latest Google Terrain View, the silt problem in Lake Powell is worse than anyone ever guessed!

LOL...I saw the map yesterday and thought the same thing.

 

[regehr]

In Utah we don't have crop circles, we have...

 

[Nick]

Just spotted this between Willow and Fiftymile. I've never seen a plane in a sat image photo, much less one that looks like it's on the ground in the middle of a sea of slickrock. Anyone missing a patrol plane?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37°19'38.6"N 110°58'36.3"W/@37.3273951,-110.9772985,267m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

 

[Howells Outdoors]

Just spotted this between Willow and Fiftymile. I've never seen a plane in a sat image photo, much less one that looks like it's on the ground in the middle a sea of slickrock. Anyone missing a patrol plane?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37°19'38.6"N 110°58'36.3"W/@37.3273951,-110.9772985,267m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

View attachment 35616

That's crazy!

 

[Nick]

I measured it's wing span on GE and it says 52'. A Cessna Caravan, which that looks very similar to, has a 52' wing span: http://cessna.txtav.com/en/caravan/cessna-caravan

Obviously it could be a smaller plane and flying above the ground would throw off the measurement, but even if it was a 30' wing span, that thing is still flying way close to the ground.

Length matches the Cessna Caravan too. What the hell... Try measuring a football field with the GE measuring tool. It's phenomenally accurate.

 

[Dave]

What's the dating on the imagery?

Edit: Google Maps just says 2015. But it's recent, in any case. The shadows under the wing and elevator tell me it's on the ground.

Edit 2: Google Earth has a date of 4/6/2015.

 

[Nick]

Yeah, the shadows make it look like it's down, but how is that possible? You'd think it would be in many pieces if it landed in that terrain.

Hey @NateGeesaman, go check it out, eh?

 

[Dave]

It's too bad we can't see an N-number. I just checked the NTSB incident reports database and didn't see anything that matches. Google Earth imagery says it happened between 2013 and last April, if indeed something happened at all.