<p>Windy Gyle is a hill in the Cheviot Hills, right on the border between England and Scotland. It lies on the border ridge, and like the other hills in the area is rounded and grass-covered. Although maps show the border passing right through the summit, the summit cairn lies a few metres north of the fence that marks the border. The cairn at the summit of this hill is named Russell&#39;s Cairn and has a small depression suitable for shielding about 15 people from the wind.</p><br>
<p>The Pennine Way crosses the summit, thus providing one possible route of ascent. Windy Gyle may also be climbed from the Coquet valley to the south (England), or from Cocklawfoot to the north (Scotland). There are a number or routes from both sides, and circular walks are possible.</p><br>
<p>There are good views from the summit north towards the Scottish Borders, Eildon Hills and Edinburgh.</p><br>
<p>The Upper Ammonoosuc River is a tributary of the Connecticut River that flows through Coös County in northern part of the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire. Despite its name, the river is not an upstream portion of the Ammonoosuc River, but instead a separate tributary of the Connecticut River flowing from 20 to 60 mi to the north of the Ammonoosuc.</p><br>
<p>The Upper Ammonoosuc rises in Pond of Safety in the town of Randolph, runs first generally north through rural portions of Berlin (where it flows through the Godfrey Dam), Milan and a corner of Dummer, then west through Stark and then Northumberland where it drains into the Connecticut near the village of Groveton. The end points of that 42.4 mi course are approximately 25 air miles (38 km) apart.</p><br>
<p>From Milan to Groveton it is fairly closely paralleled by New Hampshire Route 110.</p><br>
<p>Fort Wentworth was built in 1755 at the junction of the Upper Ammonoosuc and the Connecticut Rivers (now near the village of Groveton). The fort was used sporadically during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War.</p><br>
<p>The watershed area includes the northern Crescent Range, eastern Pliny Range and the eastern and northern Pilot Range, all in the White Mountains. Major tributaries of the Upper Ammonoosuc include:</p><br>
<p>The San Salvador Volcano  is a strato volcano situated northwest to the city of San Salvador. The crater has been nearly filled with a relatively newer edifice, the Boquerón volcano. San Salvador is adjacent to the volcano and the western section of the city actually lies among its slopes. Due to this close proximity, any geological activity of the volcano, whether eruptive or not, has the potential to result in catastrophic destruction and death to the city. Despite this, the volcano is iconic of the city, and several TV and radio antennas are situated on the El Picacho peaks and the crater of Boqueron. El Picacho, the prominent peak is the highest elevation .</p><br>
<h2>San Salvador edifice</h2><br>
<h2>Boquerón edifice</h2><br>
<p>The Boquerón edifice formed between 700 and 1,000 years ago, filling up the G-1 eruption crater. The lavas of the Boquerón edifice contain more alkali element and iron oxide than the lavas of the san salvador edifice, allowing for a clear chemical distinction.</p><br>
<p>Around 800 years ago, the present day crater was formed in a violent explosion. The crater, which gives it the present name (Boquerón means "big mouth" in Spanish) is 1.5 km in diameter and 500m deep. Within the crater around the upper walls, crops are cultivated by the locals who live on the volcano.</p><br>
<p>The magma chamber which the volcano sits upon contains a number of fissures which protrude along the flanks and sides of the volcano. The northwest (N40W) fissure has been the most active recently, with such significant eruptive events, such as the Loma Caldera eruption which buried the ancient village of Ceren and the eruption of El Playon (1658–71) which buried the town of Nexapa. The citizens relocated to Nejapa and nowadays the eruption is celebrated annually.</p><br>
<p>The most recent eruption in 1917 caused a flank eruption on the volcano along the N40W fissure. During this eruption, the crater lake inside the Boqueron evaporated and a cinder cone appeared, christened Boqueroncito.</p><br>
<p>Lake of No Return  body of water in Myanmar, lying in the area of the Pangsau Pass  on the India-Myanmar border south of Pangsau  village. The lake is 1.4 km in length and 0.8 km in width in its widest part. It is located 2.5 km to the SW of the Ledo Road, formerly called Stilwell Road, the road the Western Allies started building in 1942 to supply the Chinese armies of Chiang Kai-shek.</p><br>
<p>The area is home to the Tangsa tribe. Since the improvement of relations between India and Myanmar, the lake has come to play a part in the development of tourism in the nearby Indian Changlang District, which borders on Myanmar.</p><br>
<h2>Legends</h2><br>
<p>The most common account of the origin of the lakes name is the one told, for instance, on the Changlang Districts website (the district is in Arunachal Pradesh, India), which speculates that the name is due to the number of Allied aircraft (on their approach to The Hump) which crashlanded in it during World War II, a story repeated in both the Indian press and in Indian fiction. American sources repeat that account, for instance in the 2008 book by Brendan I. Koerner, Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier&#39;s Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II, about the life of Herman Perry, a USA serviceman working on the Ledo Road who fled into the jungle and ended up marrying into the Naga tribe (of which the Tangsa are a subset): "The Americans called it the Lake of No Return, on account of all the crashed planes concealed in its depths."</p><br>
<p>At least three more stories explain the name. The second has it that a group of Japanese soldiers returning from battle lost their way and ended up at the lake. There, they were stricken by malaria and died and hence it is called the Lake of No Return. According to a third story, US Army soldiers, working on the Ledo Road, were sent to examine the lake and got trapped by the undergrowth and perished trying to escape. A fourth story says this "is the lake of no return retreating British troops in 1942 got lost in quicksand." Adding myth to legend, one author claims he has encountered the name on a document written by one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which he claims still hides out in the area.</p><br>
<p>The lake still maintains its reputation; the Indian newspaper The Telegraph reported, in a story on the possible reopening of the Ledo Road in 2007, that "close by is the Lake of No Return — the local Bermuda Triangle. According to folklore, aircraft that fly over the lake never return." The lake&#39;s reputation is advertised in hopes of making the area more attractive to tourists: "Who knows, the ‘Indian’ Bermuda Triangle might just turn out to be the next tourist-puller of the region."</p><br>
<p>In a recent article Joydeep Sircar has claimed to have solved the mystery behind the Lake of No Return, which he visited in 2002. According to him, none of the legends associated with the name have any basis in fact.</p><br>
<p>Pangsau Pass or Pan Saung Pass, 3,727 ft in altitude, lies on the crest of the Patkai Hills on the India-Burma  border. The pass offers one of the easiest routes into Burma from the Assam plains. It is named after the closest Burmese village, Pangsau, that lies 2 km beyond the pass to the east.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>It is the reputed route of the 13th century invasion of Assam in India by the Ahoms, a Shan tribe.</p><br>
<p>The British in the late 19th Century looked at the pass as a possible railway route from India to Myitkyina in north Burma through the Hukawng Valley, all of which were part of the British Empire at the time, but no railway was built.</p><br>
<p>During World War II the pass became famous because of the Stilwell Road connecting British India to Nationalist Chinese forces fighting the Japanese in China. The pass was the large initial obstacle encountered by United States General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell&#39;s forces in their effort to build a land route to supplement The Hump air route (after the other land route, the Burma Road was lost to advancing Japanese forces).</p><br>
<p>The Stilwell Road began at Ledo, Assam, the railhead, and passed through Tirap Gaon, Lekhapani, Tipong, Jagun, Jairampur (the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary and beginning of Inner Line), and Nampong before switchbacking steeply upwards through densely forested hills to the pass, 12 km away. The distance from Ledo to Pangsau Pass is 61 km. Because of the fierce gradients and the mud, which made getting up to the pass difficult, it was nicknamed "Hell Pass" during the war.</p><br>
<p>The Pangsau Pass Winter Festival is a global village event organized every year in Nampong, Arunachal Pradesh.</p><br>
<p>Debsa Pass is a 5,360 m mountain pass in the Himalaya mountains between the Kullu and Spiti Districts of Himachal Pradesh, India.</p><br>
<p>Joydeep Sircar led the teams that explored the watershed ridge and discovered the pass after approaching through the Parbati River valley in Kullu. After an abortive attempt on an impassable col further north in 1992, the pass was located and reached in 1993, but the team refrained from crossing it into Spiti under the mistaken impression that they could be arrested because they did not have Inner Line Permits required for Spiti. Two years later, the 1995 team planned to approach from the Spiti side, which involves much less height gain, but tremendous autumn floods in the upper valley of the Beas River and other areas of Himachal which wrecked roads forced them to take the Parbati approach again. This time they crossed the pass on 21 September and completed the route from Manikaran to Kaja.</p><br>
<p>Leomann&#39;s 1:200,000 map of Himachal Pradesh (Third Edition, 2005) shows a dotted track beginning at a point between the Kach (should read Kachh) and Bara Dwari Thach campsites, and crossing the Kullu-Spiti watershed divide into the West Debsa Glacier to follow the West Debsa and Debsa streams to Thidim (should be Thango) in the Parahio Valley. This is a fairly accurate representation of the 1995 route, though the pass is unmarked.</p><br>
<p>The Cascadas de Agua Azul  are a series of waterfalls found on the Xanil River in the Chiapas, Mexico. They are located in the Municipality of Tumbalá, 69 kilometers from Palenque, near Mexican Federal Highway 199.</p><br>
<p>These waterfalls consists of many cataracts following one after another, taken from near the top of the sequence of cascades. The larger cataracts may be as high as 6 meters (20 feet) or so. During much of the distance the water descends in two streams, with small islands in the middle.</p><br>
<p>The water has a high content of calcium carbonate and other minerals, and where it falls on rocks or fallen trees it encases them in a thick shell-like coating of limestone.</p><br>
<p>Local residents reportedly restored the waterfalls after the 2017 Chiapas earthquake changed the course of the river and led to a temporary reduction of the water flow over the falls.</p><br>
<h2>Images</h2><br>
<p>AguaAzulMexico3.jpgThe series of Agua Azul cascades seen from the top</p><br>
<p>Chiapas_CascadaAzul.jpg</p><br>
<p>AguaAzulCalcifiedTree.jpgTrees in different stages of calcification</p><br>
<p>AguaAzul.jpg</p><br>
<p>Cacapon Mountain runs northwest through Morgan and Hampshire counties in West Virginia&#39;s Eastern Panhandle, rising to its greatest elevation of 2,618 ft above sea-level at High Point. Cacapon Mountain is a folded mountain ridge, belonging to the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Province. Cacapon Mountain spans 16 miles  NNE to the Potomac River near Great Cacapon.</p><br>
<p>From its southern point, Cacapon Mountain rises from the landscape north of Bloomery in northeastern Hampshire County. The mountains western flank forms a series of steep hollows such as Horsebone Hollow and the hollow that bears Falling Spring Run. Beyond these hollows lies the Cacapon River which parallels the Cacapon Mountain until it joins the Potomac River. Between Bloomery and the Morgan County line, Cacapon Mountain forms the border between Hampshire and Frederick County in Virginia. While in Morgan County, the majority of Cacapon Mountain lies in Cacapon Resort State Park. The mountain forms a series of warm springs that flow from the Devonian Oriskany (Ridgeley) sandstone along the eastern flank of its anticline such as those at Berkeley Springs. Cacapon Mountains northern end is located at the scenic Panorama Overlook off West Virginia Route 9 that overlooks three states and the confluence of the Cacapon and Potomac Rivers.</p><br>
<p>Nathaniel Mountain is a mountain ridge that runs southwest northeast through Hampshire County in West Virginia&#39;s Eastern Panhandle, rising to its greatest elevation of 2,739 ft above sea-level. The mountain is bound at its western flank by the South Branch Potomac River and to its eastern flank by South Branch Mountain 3,028 ft. The bulk of Nathaniel Mountain is located within the Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area  owned by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.</p><br>
<p>The rugged topography of Nathaniel Mountain and its WMA is dominated by mature oak and hickory forests with Virginia pine. The mountain also supports a habitat for a variety of neo-tropical migratory birds and two wetlands identified by The Nature Conservancy. Nathaniel Mountains forested wetlands are a unique find at such a high elevation. The wetlands include a number of plant species not common in the region, including sphagnum moss (Sphagnum andersonianum) and the cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea). White-tailed deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, black bears, and grouse abound on the mountain, which make its WMA a popular regional hunting area. Nathaniel Mountains Mill Run serves as a habitat for native brook trout and rainbow trout.</p><br>
<p>South Branch Mountain is a mountain ridge that runs southwest to northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle of the USA state of West Virginia, rising to its greatest elevation of 3,028 feet  above sea-level in the Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area. South Branch Mountain is among the largest and most prominent of the mountains in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians of the Eastern Panhandle region. It forms the eastern edge of the South Branch Potomac River Valley from Springfield to Moorefield. The mountain was originally named Jersey Mountain by colonial settlers in the eighteenth century after Jersey.</p><br>
<p>The Northwestern Turnpike (USA Route 50) climbs South Branch Mountain between Shanks and Romney in an area known as Sunrise Summit. The forested wetlands that were once located here on the mountains top were destroyed by the expansive commercial and residential developments in the Sunrise Summit area along US 50. Further south near Moorefield, the construction of Corridor H has caused increased disruption to South Branch Mountains forests, habitats, and topography.</p><br>
<p>Spring Gap Mountain runs southwest northeast through Morgan and Hampshire counties in West Virginia&#39;s Eastern Panhandle, rising to its greatest elevation of 2,237 ft north of "Spring Gap", from which the mountain takes its name. The gap is the source for Dug Hill Run, a tributary stream of the Little Cacapon River.</p><br>
<p>Spring Gap Mountain is a mountain ridge with its southern point rising north of Slanesville between Noland Ridge 1,161 ft and Sideling Hill. North of Spring Gap, the mountain reaches its highest peak and continues northeast with the Little Cacapon River meandering by Neals Run along its western flank. The northern end of Spring Gap Mountain is located south of West Virginia Route 9 southeast of Paw Paw.</p><br>
<p>During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Major General Edward Braddocks march from Winchester, Virginia to Cumberland, Maryland took him and his men across Spring Gap Mountain. Braddock and his men camped atop Spring Gap Mountain because of the abundance of fresh drinking water at the mountains "Spring Gap." From the mountain, Braddock and his men traveled downhill to the Little Cacapon River, which they followed to Fort Cox on the Potomac River.</p><br>
<p>The Devils Nose is a steep but small mountain ridge that spans from southwest to northeast between the Little Cacapon and Potomac rivers in northeastern Hampshire County, West Virginia. From its southern end near Neals Run on Johnsons Hollow, The Nose rises from the landscape curving along a bend in the Little Cacapon River. From Johnsons Hollow, The Nose continues northeast flanked to its west by a plain at the Little Cacapons mouth into the Potomac, and to its east by The Nose Hollow and Neals Run-Paw Paw Road . The Devils Nose reaches the Potomac River shortly before the Morgan County line. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad separates The Nose from the Potomacs edge. On the Morgan County line is located the "Niagara Falls" of The Nose Hollow&#39;s stream shortly before it, too, reaches the Potomac.</p><br>
<p>Mount Asgard is a twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped, cylindrical, rock towers, separated by a saddle. It is located in Auyuittuq National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. The peak is named after Asgard, the realm of the gods in Norse mythology. Mount Asgard is perhaps the most famous of the Baffin Mountains.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing history</h2><br>
<p>Asgard&#39;s slightly higher North Peak was first ascended in 1953 by J. Weber, J. Marmet, and H. Röthlisberger, Swiss scientists on the Arctic Institute Baffin Island Expedition, led by the Canadian P. Baird. Their route ascended the east side of the north peak, using a climbing traverse across snowfields and rock ribs, to reach the saddle between the two peaks, and thence to the top of the North Peak. The route is graded VI, 5.8/5.9 A1. It is still the most-traveled route and is the standard descent route for climbers making harder ascents on other faces.</p><br>
<p>The South Peak was first climbed in 1971 by G. Lee, R. Wood, P. Clanky, J. Pavur, Y. Kamisawa and P. Koch. Since then, at least 13 routes have been put up on the two peaks, most involving highly technical free and aid climbing, with lengths varying from 800 m to 1,200 m. One of the most notable routes was put up in 1975 by Charlie Porter as a solo climb. This was "the first Baffin modern, multi-day, technical, big-wall climb", with 40 pitches rated at Grade VII, 5.10, A4 and it was followed by "a 10-day walk-out to the fjord-head without food". The fact that this was all done solo was "a remarkable achievement".</p><br>
<p>In 1976, stuntman Rick Sylvester performed a BASE jump, skiing off the mountain with a Union Flag parachute for the opening sequence of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, although the fictional setting was the Austrian Alps. The stunt team and film crew had reached the summit by helicopter.</p><br>
<p>Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge that runs northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle region of the USA state of West Virginia. Rising to its greatest elevation of 2,650 ft at High Knob, Mill Creek is a folded mountain ridge, belonging to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. Mill Creek Mountain forms the western edge of the South Branch Potomac River Valley and is named for Mill Creek that carves through it at Mechanicsburg Gap allowing the Northwestern Turnpike  to pass through as well. Along with Sawmill Ridge , Mill Creek Mountain forms the Trough along the South Branch.</p><br>
<p>Hanging Rocks at Wappocomo, south of Springfield, are located on the northern edge of the gap in Mill Creek Mountain formed by the South Branch.</p><br>
<h2>Summits and Knobs</h2><br>
<p>Although Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge, it is made up of a number of summits and knobs with individual names. These are listed from south to north.</p><br>
<p>River Ridge, 1,906 feet (581 m)</p><br>
<p>High Knob, 2,648 feet (807 m)</p><br>
<p>Unnamed Knob, 2,066 feet (629 m)</p><br>
<p>Unnamed Knob, 1,993 feet (607 m)</p><br>
<p>Unnamed Knob, 1,968 feet (599 m)</p><br>
<p>Thrasher Knob, 2,142 feet (653 m)</p><br>
<p>Merrit Knob, 1,952 feet (595 m)</p><br>
<p>Long Knob, 1,725 feet (525 m)</p><br>
<p>Green Knob, 1,620 feet (500 m)</p><br>
<p>Island Ridge, 1,500 feet (457 m)</p><br>
<p>Fairview Mountain, 2,351 feet (716 m)</p><br>
<p>Fort Mill Ridge, 1,100 feet (335 m)</p><br>
<p>Mill Creek Ridge at Romney, 1,771 feet (539 m)</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Puffin Island  is an uninhabited steep rocky island lying off the coast of the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is about 1.5 km long and 0.7 km wide, and rises to 159 metres. It is separated from the mainland by Puffin Sound, which is only about 250 metres across. Day visits to the island from Valentia can be arranged.</p><br>
<h2>Nature conservation</h2><br>
<p>Puffin Island holds important populations of several seabird species, including Atlantic puffins, Manx shearwaters and European storm-petrels, and was acquired as a nature reserve by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (now BirdWatch Ireland) in the early 1980s.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island also has some signs of ancient human habitation, and it has attracted the interest of archaeologists.</p><br>
<p>Sandown Bay is a broad bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight&#39;s southeastern coast. It extends ten kilometres from Culver Down and Yaverland in the northeast to just south of Shanklin in the southwest, near the village of Luccombe. Near Luccombe, the bay is separated from The Undercliff by a large headland from which Lowtherville sits atop. The towns of Shanklin, Lake and Sandown are located on the bay&#39;s coast, while Luccombe and Lowtherville feature panoramic views across both Sandown Bay to the East and the Undercliff to the southwest.</p><br>
<p>The seabed is a mixture of sand, shells and gravel. The beach is predominantly sand.</p><br>
<p>Large cargo ships can frequently be observed operating in Sandown Bay, often using the bay as a temporary anchorage before continuing east towards continental Europe.</p><br>
<p>The bay is best viewed from Culver Down to the north. The Isle of Wight Coastal Path follows the whole bayline either along the cliff top to the south of Sandown or the concrete seawall north of Sandown.</p><br>
<p>Sandown Bay is an excellent example of a concordant coastline, and has well-developed beaches stretching all the way from Shanklin to Culver Down due to Longshore drift. As a result of this, Sandown and Shanklin grew rapidly in the 1800s into bustling seaside resorts, as tourists from across both the Island and the country came to enjoy the seaside.</p><br>
<p>Cerro Mercedario is the highest peak of the Cordillera de la Ramada range and the eighth-highest mountain of the Andes. It is located 100 km to the north of Aconcagua, in the Argentine province of San Juan. It was first ascended in 1934 by Adam Karpiński and Wiktor Ostrowski, members of a Polish andinist expedition led by Konstanty Jodko-Narkiewicz. The Polish party erected a cairn on the summit.</p><br>
<p>In 1968, after several attempts by some of the strongest Argentine climbers, a Japanese group led by Saburo Yoshida accomplished the first ascension of the south side. In 1971 an Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravec and Othmar Kucera, climbed the north side. In 1972, Italians Sergio Job Gino and Antonio Beorchia Nigris climbed the Mercedario through the normal route and discovered some Inca ruins just below the summit. In January 1975 an Italian expedition led by Antonio Mastellaro managed to climb the east side.</p><br>
<p>In 1983 a small expedition from Gorizia was able to traverse the south-west ridge, which is considered the most difficult trail of the mountain, and one of the last mountaineering issues in the Andes. On January 27 Mauro Collini, Sergio Figel, Mario Tavagnutti and Rudi Vittori reached the top.</p><br>
<h2>Photo gallery</h2><br>
<p>Customs House is a heritage-listed customs house at 427 Queen Street, Brisbane CBD, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Charles H McLay and built from 1886 to 1889 at a cost of ₤38,346 by John Petrie & Son. It was originally used for the collection of customs duty and was opened in 1889,</p><br>
<p>The collection of custom duties on imported products was particularly important to Queensland where the manufacturing sector was slow to develop. Brisbane was declared a port city in 1846. In 1908, seven years after federation, the building was acquired by the federal government.</p><br>
<p>Customs House is within reach of the CityCat catamaran ferry service, as well as the Free Loop Bus.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Brisbane Customs House was erected at the northern end of the Town Reach of the Brisbane River, near Petries Bight, between 1886 and 1889 to a design prepared by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architects Office.</p><br>
<p>The 1880s building replaced an earlier and much smaller customs house on the site. The location had been chosen in 1849 following the declaration of Moreton Bay as a port of entry in 1846 and after considerable discussion as to the most suitable location for a customs house. At the time shipping activity was centred on the South Brisbane Reach and the decision to locate a customs house at the northern end of the Town Reach acted as an impetus for the development of wharves along this part of the river. A small building was erected for customs purposes in 1850 and in the following decades became increasingly inadequate as Brisbane emerged as the principal commercial centre and port of Queensland.</p><br>
<p>In 1884 the Queensland Government decided to construct a new customs house. In March 1886 a design by Charles McLay was selected from many proposals in the Colonial Architect&#39;s Office for a new Brisbane Customs House. McLay completed the specification in May 1886 and construction commenced in September that year.</p><br>
<p>Charles McLay was the major designer under the colonial architect George Connolly and was appointed Chief Draftsman in 1889. His works include the Bundaberg Post Office, probably the Fortitude Post Office and the Lady Norman Wing Brisbane Children&#39;s Hospital (with John James Clark), of which the Brisbane Customs House is by far the most ambitious and prominent design.</p><br>
<p>The contract was let to one of Brisbane&#39;s oldest and most respected contractors, John Petrie & Son, who tendered with a price of £37,342. The contract time was 30 months but because of difficulties with the supply of some materials, especially stone for the foundations, and alterations to the original plans, the building took longer than anticipated to complete and it was opened on 2 September 1889. Retaining walls, fencing, a double staircase down to the river and nearby earth closets were also constructed.</p><br>
<p>The completed building incorporated pedimented gables and a massive colonnade. Heraldic scenes in the pediments were precursors to the official Queensland coat of arms, which was not granted until 1893. A curved iron balustrade to the balconies included the initials of the reigning sovereign, Victoria Regina, in the cast. Red cedar was used extensively for desks, counters, cabinets and tables as well as for a massive and elegant staircase.</p><br>
<p>The Brisbane Customs House was built during a period of economic prosperity and a construction "boom" in Queensland and was amongst the more impressive of a number of notable public and commercial buildings erected in Brisbane during the 1880s, which included the first stage of the Treasury Building (1886-1889). Public pride in the new customs house was considerable. On 7 September 1889, a few days after the building was opened for business, the local Brisbane Courier newspaper drew attention to "the handsome and imposing appearance, especially as seen from the river or from Petrie&#39;s Bight" and predicted that the Brisbane Customs House with its tall columns, pilasters and large copper-sheathed dome would "become one of the features of the city".</p><br>
<p>In 1891 stables, additional retaining walls and fencing, and more earth closets were erected at a cost of £446. By the mid-1890s gardens and a driveway had been developed. The mature fig tree now at the site was possibly planted about this time. Minor repairs were carried out throughout the 1890s, including some work in 1895 after seven feet (2.1 m) of water inundated the basement during the 1893 Brisbane River floods.</p><br>
<p>As a consequence of the Federation of Australia, the Brisbane Customs House, valued at £80,804 (£40,804 for the structure and £40,000 for the site), was transferred to the Australian Government by December 1908.</p><br>
<p>In 1906 the inadequacies of the original flat roof were overcome by the installation of a new hipped roof. Rearrangement of counters and partitions in the Long Room was carried out in 1911 and again in 1919. Frequently minor repairs, cleaning and maintenance work was carried out to the interior of the building in succeeding decades. In 1947 major internal alterations were undertaken: all but two of the internal masonry walls were demolished; the timber floors were replaced by concrete slabs; the cedar staircase was removed and a new terrazzo one was installed at another location; mezzanine floors were erected in the Long Room; and the roof was replaced - without the original chimneys. In 1978 part of the exterior was cleaned, repaired and sealed and painted.</p><br>
<p>In the mid-1980s the Australian Customs Department moved out of the building to Australia House. The building became redundant when port facilities moved to the Port of Brisbane at the mouth of the Brisbane River, resulting in its closure in April 1988.</p><br>
<p>The building remained vacant from 1988 until leased by the University of Queensland. The university reburbished the building from 1991 to 1994 at a cost of A$7.5 million. At this period some of the interior masonry walls that had been removed in 1947 were replaced and the original timber stair was reconstructed. Non-significant partitions added after 1948 and parts of the 1940s fit out were removed except for some good quality intact 1940s office cabinetry which survived and part of the 1940s main stair which provided access to the basement. Two of the 1940s galleries added to the Long Room were removed and one, at the southwest end, retained and adapted. Timber window and door joinery was conserved and plaster mouldings reconstructed where they were missing.</p><br>
<p>Following the renovation, there is a restaurant and function centre within the building, and regular concerts and an art gallery occupies the lower floor. The Long Room was once the place customs business was transacted. Today the room is used various events, such as lectures and dinners.</p><br>
<p>In October 2015, it was announced that a 47-storey tower block would be built adjacent to the Customs House. Protests erupted over concerns that the tower would be too close to the Customs House causing over-shadowing and the likely destruction of the fig tree. University of Queensland announced it would lodge a legal challenge against the approval of the project by Brisbane City Council, stating that the tower would be only 2.6 metres from the Customs House boundary, despite the councils own provisions in the City Plan 2014, which would require a 25-metre setback. However, the university lost its court case in July 2016. In November 2016, the university reached agreement with the towers designers to alter the tower&#39;s profile to preserve views, reduce external carparking and restrictions on the pruning of the fig tree.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Construction was finished in three years at a cost of ₤38,346. The downstream end of the Brisbane central business district was selected to spur the development of wharves in the precinct known as Petrie Bight. The lower floor contained a secure warehouse where goods not having been passed customs were stored.</p><br>
<p>Customs House is a Brisbane landmark known for its distinctive copper dome. The building was designed by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architect&#39;s Office. Despite no government in the country having a coat of arms at the time, the building features a depiction on its facade of a shield between an emu and kangaroo. An iron balustrade was shipped from England with the initials VR for Victoria Regina wrought on it in honour of Queen Victoria. Inside the structure features black and white marble with cedar fittings.</p><br>
<p>The Brisbane Customs House, located at the northern end of Queen Street and beside the Brisbane River at the northern end of the Town Reach, is an imposing two-storeyed rendered brick building in the classical style. The site is prominent due to the proximity to the river, the bend in Queen Street and the general topography which opens up many views to and from the building. A prominent feature is the large copper dome at the semi-circular northern end which is a focal point viewed from both directions along Queen Street and from the river for ships arriving from Moreton Bay. The architectural form of the building announces the northern edge of the city centre and is sympathetic to the landscape features of cliffs and river bends.</p><br>
<p>The architectural form clearly demonstrates the intended purpose of the building with the double entrance from both the city and the river, which is a response to the siting of the building between the river and the town. The riverside setting allows long views across and along the river to the building.</p><br>
<p>Other features of the Brisbane Customs House which demonstrate its former use are more characteristic of late 19th century customs houses in Australia, especially the general design and planning arrangement of the building to include an imposing masonry facade, an impressive public space (the former Long Room now used for functions), a secure bonded warehouse (the former Queens Warehouse, now converted to an art gallery), offices and a secure boundary fence. The Brisbane Customs House is a well proportioned and skilfully designed example of a Victorian building in the Renaissance mode executed to take best advantage of its dominant site and solve the practical problems of dual access from the town and from the river. It has considerable unity in its scale, form and use of materials.</p><br>
<p>The main structure of the building is of brick on a stone foundation. The columns, pilasters, balusters to the colonnade, the parapet and side entrances are of Murphy&#39;s Creek sandstone. There are cast iron balustrades on the recessed verandahs and external stairs. The main roof is clad with corrugated iron. Timber window and door joinery survives reasonably intact on the exterior walls.</p><br>
<p>The exterior of the building is very intact except for the loss of the original roof, which was replaced by the present steel trussed roof in the 1940s, the removal of chimneys and the widening of the northwestern end of the balconies in the 1940s.</p><br>
<p>The interior fabric is less intact due to the alterations and additions carried out during its use as a customs house and to the most recent refurbishment, which removed much of the 1940s fabric but recovered aspects of the 19th century form, including reconstruction of the original timber staircase.</p><br>
<p>Inside the building the most imposing space is that of the Long Room beneath the dome. Fluted Corinthian pilasters of painted plaster are below the coffered ceiling of the dome, which has a central glazed section. In the basement some of the original walls with arched openings remain. The 1890-91 Moggill sandstone retaining wall carries around the perimeter of the site reasonably intact and incorporates a wrought iron balustrade, masonry piers, stairs and rooms for the former underground privies at the rivers edge. There is a small ground with a mature fig tree and sunken garden, which contribute to the buildings riverside setting.</p><br>
<p>The view from the river and the secure wharf area has been compromised by the riverside walkway.</p><br>
<h2>Heritage listing</h2><br>
<p>The former Brisbane Customs House was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005 having satisfied the following criteria.</p><br>
<p>The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland&apos;s history.</p><br>
<p>The former Brisbane Customs House, constructed between 1886 and 1889 to a design prepared by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architects Office, was in use by the customs service for nearly a century. It is important historically as an expression of the importance of the customs service to Queensland and to Australia and for its site, which relates to the establishment of Brisbane as a port of entry and the development of major wharfage along the Town Reach of the Brisbane River and Petries Bight. The Brisbane Customs House was built during a period of economic prosperity and a construction "boom" in Queensland and was amongst the more impressive of a number of notable public and commercial buildings erected in Brisbane during the 1880s. It is important in demonstrating part of the pattern of Queensland&#39;s history.</p><br>
<p>The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.</p><br>
<p>The former Brisbane Customs House is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its class of cultural places: late 19th century masonry customs houses. These characteristics include: the imposing form; general arrangement of spaces to include Long Room, Bond Store and offices; and secure fencing. It is a fine example of the work of architect Charles McLay and a good example of one of a series of customs houses designed in the Queensland Colonial Architect&#39;s office and of the work of contractor John Petrie.</p><br>
<p>The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.</p><br>
<p>The Brisbane Customs House has aesthetic value as a well proportioned and skilfully designed Victorian building in the Renaissance mode, executed to take best advantage of its dominant site and solve the practical problems of dual access from the town and from the river. It has considerable unity in its scale, form and use of materials. With its copper dome and two storey colonnade it makes an imposing and important contribution the streetscape and to the townscape. Its location on the riverbank adds to its aesthetic values, allowing distant views from along and across the river.</p><br>
<p>The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.</p><br>
<p>The place has strong associations for the Brisbane community as a landmark and as a rare surviving marker of the Port of Brisbane before it moved to the mouth of the river.</p><br>
<p>The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland&apos;s history.</p><br>
<p>It has a special association with the Australian Customs Service, which occupied the building for nearly 100 years.</p><br>
<p>Sleepy Creek Mountain is a mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians on the border between Morgan and Berkeley counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The long-distance Tuscarora Trail traverses the southern ridge and northern bench of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Together with Third Hill Mountain to the east, the two mountains form a blind valley that contains Sleepy Creek Lake and the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area. Sleepy Creek and Third Hill Mountains are distinctive for their height in the relatively level terrain of the far Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The southern end of Sleepy Creek Mountain, Shockeys Knob (1,873 ft), lies in northern Frederick County, Virginia and is shared by Berkeley and Morgan counties in West Virginia. The mountain continues along southwest-northeast orientation between the two counties and peaks again at High Rock (1,811 ft). Sleepy Creek Mountain is conjoined with Third Hill Mountain at "Locks-of-the-Mountain". From "Locks-of-the-Mountain", the Meadow Branch of Sleepy Creek is formed flowing northward between the two mountain ridges. North of this point, Sleepy Creek Mountain reaches its highest summit at 1,905 ft. East of Johnsons Mill, Whites Gap (1,492 ft) is formed in mountain. With Sleepy Creek on its western flank, and Meadow Branch to its eastern flank, Sleepy Creek Mountain is then located entirely in Morgan County. Sleepy Creek Mountains northern end lies at the confluence of Sleepy Creek and its Meadow Branch. Just south of the its northern terminus, on the eastern flank is the Devils Nose Rock formation (not to be confused with the nearby Devils Nose Mountain), which juts out into the Meadow Branch gorge forcing a sharp bend in the creek.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Sleepy Creek Mountain is entirely forested with its woodlands consisting primarily of oaks, hickories, and Virginia pine. Deer, wild turkey, grouse, squirrel, and raccoon are all prevalent species on the mountain ridge.</p><br>
<p>Patterson Creek Mountain is a mountain ridge that forms the border between Mineral and Hampshire counties and Grant and Hardy Counties in West Virginias Eastern Panhandle. The mountains namesake, Patterson Creek, parallels its western flank. The southern end of the Patterson Creek Mountain is near the confluence of Lunice Creek and the South Branch Potomac River and its northern end is located southwest of Springfield. The mountain reaches its highest elevation at Charles Knob.</p><br>
<h2>Summits and Knobs</h2><br>
<p>Patterson Creek Mountain is a mountain ridge made up of multiple peaks. The following are listed from the mountain&#39;s southern end to its northern end.</p><br>
<p>Charles Knob, 2,723 ft</p><br>
<p>Round Knob, 2,308 ft</p><br>
<p>Turkey Mountain, 2,172 ft</p><br>
<p>Huckleberry Ridge, 2,539 ft</p><br>
<p>Slate Lick Knob, 1,713 ft</p><br>
<p>Middle Ridge, 1,575 ft</p><br>
<p>Buck Ridge, 1,200 ft</p><br>
<p>Siargao is a tear-drop shaped island in the Philippine Sea situated 800 kilometers southeast of Manila in the province of Surigao del Norte. It has a land area of approximately 437 km&sup2;. The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet, Port Pilar. The coastline is marked by a succession of reefs, small points and white, sandy beaches. The neighboring islands and islets have similar landforms.</p><br>
<p>The island is composed of municipalities of Burgos, Dapa, Del Carmen, General Luna, San Benito, Pilar, San Isidro, Santa Monica and Socorro.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Siargao Island contains the largest mangrove forest reserves in Mindanao, at Del Carmen. Long stretches of wetlands indicate a potential for commercial seaweed propagation. Siargao Island is greatly influenced by the winds and currents coming uninterrupted from the Pacific Ocean, intensified by the Mindanao current running westward through the Siargao Strait.</p><br>
<p>Offshore, a classic tropical island lies protected within its surrounding coral reef with dozens of coconut palms dressed in the center circle of the island. Off to the right, well within the massive coastal reef, lies a shining white sand bar, (Pansukian, or Naked island) some 200 meters long. The tide of Siargao is diurnal with tidal curves typically present, especially on the east coast of the island.</p><br>
<p>The island&#39;s Pacific-facing reefs are situated on the edge of the Philippine Trench, and the extremely deep offshore waters assure the ocean swells have undiluted power when they encounter the many coral and rock reefs. Siargao has excellent surfing conditions, particularly during the southwest "habagat" monsoon from August to November, when the prevailing wind is offshore.</p><br>
<p>There is also a small island near Siargao called Guyam Island. It is uninhabited and has become a popular stop for tourists doing island-hopping tours. The most popular tour includes a stop at Guyam, Naked Island (an exposed sandbar with not much else), and Dako Island.</p><br>
<p>The extensive mangrove forests of the western coast in the Del Carmen area are home to the Indo-Pacific saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). A large specimen measuring 14 feet, 9 inches (4.5 meters) was found dead in 2016</p><br>
<p>In the past, Siargao Is. could be reached via a direct domestic flight from Manila to Surigao City and then by a ferry to the coastal towns of Dapa or Del Carmen in Siargao Islands. Now, Cebu Pacific has flights from Cebu-Siargao, vv as well as a direct Manila-Siargao route (it stops briefly in Cebu and passengers then switch to a smaller aircraft). There are plans to extend the runway of Sayak Airport in Siargao, to cater to the demands of growing tourists who will be visiting this island paradise. In March 2017, both Cebu Pacific and SkyJet airlines commenced direct flights to Sayak Airport (SOS) Siargao island from Manila (MNL), the first direct flights to the island from the capital.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>First recorded sighting by Europeans of Siargao Island was by Spanish navigator Bernardo de la Torre on board of the carrack San Juan de Letrán in 1543, when attempting to return from Sarangani to New Spain. It was charted as Isla de las Palmas (Palm Island in Spanish).</p><br>
<h2>Cloud 9</h2><br>
<p>One of the well-known surfing waves on Siargao and the Philippines, with a reputation for thick, hollow tubes is "Cloud 9". This right-breaking reef wave is the site of the annual Siargao Cup, a domestic and international surfing competition sponsored by the provincial government of Surigao del Norte.</p><br>
<p>The wave was discovered by traveling surfers in the late 1980s. It was named by American photographer John Seaton Callahan after a chocolate bar of same name and was featured in the United States-based Surfer magazine in March 1993. This surf trip to Siargao Island was named by Surfer as one of the "Ten Best Surf Trips of All Time" in 1995. Cloud 9 also has a reputation for being a relatively cheap destination for surfers with many accommodations, restaurants and bars to choose from.</p><br>
<p>The island of Siargao was a hideout for convicted American drug smuggler and surfing entrepreneur Mike Boyum, who arrived on the island in late December 1988 and who died on Siargao from a 44 day "spiritual cleansing fast" in April of 1989.</p><br>
<p>There are several other quality waves on Siargao and nearby islands, but Cloud 9 has received more publicity than any other surf spot in the Philippines. While it is not the only wave in the Tuason Point and General Luna areas easily accessible via the long pier from the shoreline and without the need for a boat, it is easily the most popular, leading to overcrowding and the nickname of "Crowd 9" among surfers. Eager foreign and locally-owned accommodation and tourist facilities have profited from the magazine publicity and the influx of visitors drawn by the annual Siargao Cup competition in September and the General Luna area currently has nearly 100 accommodation options for visitors. A short motorbike ride outside of town yields even more lodgings, restaurants and bars.</p><br>
<p>Siargao, particularly the municipality of General Luna and the Tuason Point area, is well known as "The Surfing Capital of the Philippines" with a reputation among surfers within the Philippines and the International scene.</p><br>
<p>Eddie Florano has also written a song called "Surfin&#39; in Siargao" from the 2006 Ukulele World: Acoustic & Power Ukulele compilation album.</p><br>
<p>Red Hot Chili Peppers&#39; front man Anthony Kiedis was also inspired to write a song after his 2014 visit to the island.</p><br>
<h2>School</h2><br>
<p>The Coal Exchange, also known as The Exchange Building, was opened as the Coal and Shipping Exchange as a market floor for trading in coal in Cardiff, Wales. It is situated in Mount Stuart Square in Butetown, and was for many years the hub of the city&#39;s prosperous shipping industry. It later became a music venue, with offices remaining in use in the West Wing, before being closed indefinitely in 2013 due to building safety issues. Following a series of proposals to demolish the building, Cardiff Council purchased the Coal Exchange, and in 2016 it was announced that the building was to be fully refurbished as a hotel, with a museum detailing the history of the building and of the Cardiff Docks.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Construction and Early History</h3><br>
<p>Before the Coal Exchange was built in Mount Stuart Square, the area was a residential square with a central garden. It was taken over by commerce as the city grew in prosperity. Built to provide a dedicated location for merchants and traders to sell coal, it followed construction of buildings of a similar function in London, Liverpool and Manchester. Prior to its contruction, coal merchants used to chalk up the changing prices of coal on slates outside their offices or struck deals in the local public houses. It was built and opened in stages, the central trading hall and east block completed first. The trading hall was a large central space around which suites of offices were located. The London and Provincial Banking Company occupied the majority of the north side.</p><br>
<p>As Cardiff became the biggest coal port in the world, the building was constructed between 1884 and 1888 by Edwin Seward as a base from which to conduct trade negotiations regarding the coal mines of the South Wales Valleys – most of which was shipped to Cardiff for distribution.</p><br>
<p>The building played an important role in the industrial Cardiff of the 19th century. Paired Corinthian columns, an oak balcony, and rich wood panelling adorn the trading hall, which was reconstructed by Edwin Seward in 1911.</p><br>
<p>Following its opening, coal owners, ship owners and their agents met daily on the floor of the trading hall where agreements were made by word of mouth and telephone. During the peak trading hour of midday to one oclock, the floor might have as many as 200 men gesticulating and shouting. It was estimated that up to 10,000 people would pass in and out of the building each day. At one time the price of the worlds coal was determined here. The building interior was lavishly refurbished in 1912 by Edwin Seward, and reopened as the ‘New Exchange Building’. In 1915, an extension was added to the southern section, connected to the trading hall.</p><br>
<h3>Post-war period</h3><br>
<p>Cardiff&#39;s reliance on coal made the Bute Docks highly vulnerable to any downturn in the demand for it. With the end of the war the docks went into further decline. The Coal exchange closed in 1958 and coal exports came to an end in 1964. The southern extension was demolished in the 1970s. The building became Grade II* listed in 1975.</p><br>
<p>In 1979 the Coal Exchange was earmarked as a future home of the proposed Welsh Assembly but the plan for devolution was rejected by the Welsh people in a referendum. In 1983 the building was considered as a headquarters for the Welsh language television station, S4C, though this also failed to take off. The Exchange Hall was used with great regularity during this period as a filming location for various parts of the entertainment industry, for example the BBC drama Bevan.</p><br>
<h3>Re-opening, closure and current status</h3><br>
<p>In 1988 the building was re-acquired and subsequently completely refurbished in 2001 to turn it into a major venue. The venue hosted acts such as the Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, Stereophonics, Van Morrison and Biffy Clyro.</p><br>
<p>The Coal Exchange closed indefinitely on 7 August 2013 as a result of building safety issues. With the subsequent liquidation of the company which owned it in 2014, ownership of the Coal Exchange passed to the Crown Estate. It is currently the subject of ongoing efforts to preserve the historic fabric of the building by the not-for-profit organisation Save the Coal Exchange Limited. In February 2015, Welsh Government Economy Minister Edwina Hart commissioned a feasibility study into future re-use of the building. In May 2015 it was confirmed that the exchange would be used for filming of the remake of The Crow. In 2016, filmmaker Nick Broomfield visited the building as part of his documentary Going Going Gone, which investigated the deterioration and heritage of the Coal Exchange. In June 2017, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled Saving The Coal Exchange, which looked at the development of the building into a luxury hotel.</p><br>
<h2>Design</h2><br>
<p>The building is constructed largely in limestone, in the French Renaissance style. The exterior is made of pale Corsham stone on three sides, with yellow brick on the western elevation. The roof is slate, topped with multiple chimneys mainly in yellow brick. Its style was derived from French Renaissance models. The main entrance front faces south. The building is made up of three storeys and basement, plus attic storeys in the central pedimented frontispiece, with a hipped pavilion roof. The entrance is guarded by a pair of fluted Corinthian columns, and topped by a floral relief in a triangular pediment surmounted by Royal Arms. On the north east corner, steps lead up to a projecting porch which housed Barclays Bank, resident here since building opened.</p><br>
<p>The interior retains an entrance hall with a Jacobethan style moulded plaster ceiling, panelled walls, and woodblock and inlay floor. At the rear are two lions on high plinths supporting clock faces showing times of Cardiff high tides. The central Coal and Shipping Hall dominates the building, surrounded by galleried tiers, in Jacobethan style dark wood. A false ceiling has reduced the height to 2 storeys, hiding a centrally glazed roof.</p><br>
<h2>The Exchange Hotel</h2><br>
<p>In 2016 it was announced that the building was to be fully refurbished as a hotel by private company Signature Living, with a museum detailing the history of the building and of the Cardiff Docks. The proposal received some opposition, including from the Victorian Society and MP Stephen Doughty. Cardiff council granted planning permission in July 2016. The hotel opened in May 2017. It offers 200 bedrooms, restaurant, spa facilities. The restoration retained the original structure, including a number of original features including a memorial dedicated to World War I and the grand hall, previously the trading floor.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>Coal Exchange is served by Cardiff Bay railway station and Cardiff Bus service 7, 8, 35, and Baycar.</p><br>
<p>Baker Mountain is a mountain ridge in southeastern Hampshire County, West Virginia. The mountain runs southwest northeast between Yellow Spring and the Hardy County line. Baker Mountain is flanked to its east by the Cacapon River with West Virginia Route 259 running parallel between the two. Its forests were once used as a major source of timber for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad&#39;s rail ties. For this reason, the Winchester and Western Railroad was constructed through the Capon Valley in the 1920s to haul the timber harvested in the region to Winchester, Virginia for railroad tie production. The communities of Capon Lake and Intermont lie at the foot of Baker Mountain on the Cacapon.</p><br>
<p></text></p><br>
<p></revision></p><br>
<p>Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland&#39;s mainland, and Cape Bridgman in the northeast.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Peary Land is bounded by Lincoln Sea (west of Cape Morris Jesup) and Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean in the north. Oodaaq island, the northernmost point of land of the world, lies off the north coast. Frederick E. Hyde Fjord, which cuts into Peary Land from the east 150 km deep, divides it into Northern Peary Land and Southern Peary Land. The coastline is deeply indented by smaller fjords.</p><br>
<p>Peary Land is not part of any municipality, but is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. The size of the region is about 375 km east-west and 200 km north-south, with an estimated area of 57 000 km. It is only a bit more than 700 km south of the North Pole. It is free of Greenland&#39;s inland ice cap. Being mostly north of the 82°N parallel, it contains the most northerly ice-free region of the world, mostly in Southern Peary Land (such as Melville Land just north of the Independence Fjord). Precipitation levels are so low (only about 25 to 200 mm per year, all as snow) that it is called a polar desert. It was not covered by glaciers during the most recent ice age. However, in its western part, there is a local icecap, Hans Tausen Icecap, with ice at least 344 m thick.</p><br>
<p>Peary Land is mountainous, according to certain sources 1,737 m high Wistar Bjerg is the highest peak of Peary Land; 1,155 meters high Mara Mountain of the Roosevelt Mountain Range is another high summit. However, there are unnamed elevations reaching up to 1,950 m in the heavily glaciated Roosevelt Range and possibly comparable heights in the little-explored H.H. Benedict Range.</p><br>
<p>Originally, Peary Land was believed to be an island, separated from the main island by Peary Channel, an assumed connection between Victoria Fjord and Independence Fjord.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Caribou and musk oxen are supported by the sparse vegetation, which covers only about 5% of the surface, and which includes 33 species of flowering plants. Other fauna includes Arctic fox, polar wolf, polar bear, and Arctic hare.</p><br>
<p>One to two million years ago, when climates were warmer, trees such as larch, black spruce, birch, yew, and thuja grew in the northernmost Peary Land.</p><br>
<h2>Human exploration and settlement</h2><br>
<p>Peary Land was historically inhabited by three separate cultures, during which times the climate was milder than presently:</p><br>
<p>Independence I culture, Paleo-Eskimo (around 2000 BC, oldest remains dating from 2400 BC)</p><br>
<p>Independence II culture, Paleo-Eskimo (800 BC to 200 BC)</p><br>
<p>Thule culture (ancestral to the modern Inuit, around AD 1300)</p><br>
<p>The area is named after Robert E. Peary, who first explored it during his expedition of 1891 to 1892.</p><br>
<h3>Research</h3><br>
<p>There are two Arctic research stations on Jørgen Brønlund Fjord, Brønlundhus (erected in 1948) and Kap Harald Moltke (erected in 1972). Both stations were built on initiative of Eigil Knuth, and have been the basis for many scientific expeditions. Kap Harald Moltke station was built later in connection with use of the natural runway east of Jørgen Brønlund Fjord mouth. The stations located 10 km from each other on either side of the fjord, with Brønlundhus on the western side, and communication between them in summer is by boat, depending on ice conditions. Since the death of Eigil Knuth, the stations are administered by Peary Land Foundation. Today, Brønlundhus can be characterised as a museum, with a collection of artefacts from polar explorations.</p><br>
<p>Aneityum  is the southernmost island of Vanuatu, in the province of Tafea.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Aneityum is the southernmost island of Vanuatu (not counting the Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are disputed with New Caledonia, but considered by the people of Anatom Island part of their custom ownership).</p><br>
<p>Its southeastern cape Nétchan Néganneaing is the southernmost point of land in Vanuatu, more southerly than the southern satellite islet Inyeug. The latter, however, is surrounded by Intao Reef, that extends even further south, albeit submerged, thus being the southernmost feature of Vanuatu.</p><br>
<p>The island is 159.2 km² in size. It rises to an elevation of 852 m in Mount Inrerow Atamein.</p><br>
<p>The larger of its two villages is Anelcauhat ( Anelghowhat), on the south side.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<p>Aneityum had a population of 915 in 2009. This population is believed to have been possibly more than 12,000 prior to the arrival of the Europeans, in 1793. However, introduced diseases and blackbirding played a major role in Aneityum&#39;s massive depopulation, which left the island with less than 200 inhabitants in 1930.</p><br>
<p>The main language of Aneityum island is also called Aneityum, or Anejom̃ in the local orthography.</p><br>
<h2>Traditional Chiefdoms</h2><br>
<p>At the time of first contact with Europeans (around 1830) the island was subdivided into seven chiefdoms (nelcau) that each were presided by a natimarid (high chief) (clockwise, starting in Northwest:):</p><br>
<p>Anau-Unse (Annaunse)</p><br>
<p>Ijipdav (Epege)</p><br>
<p>Anetcho (Aneitio)</p><br>
<p>Anau-Unjai (Aname)</p><br>
<p>Anumej-Anekro (Annuantchai)</p><br>
<p>Umej (Umetch)</p><br>
<p>Anelcauhat</p><br>
<p>The chiefdoms were further subdivided into more than 50 districts that were presided by minor chiefs (natimi alupas). The power of the chiefs was mainly of ritual nature.</p><br>
<h3>Maps</h3><br>
<p>Aneiteum.JPGMap of 1882</p><br>
<p>04-018b Vanuatu Aneityum Is.tifMap of the traditional chiefdoms and districts</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The island is served by Anatom Airport, not on the main island itself, but on the tiny island to its south, Iñec (or Inyeug, also known as "Mystery Island"), across the main village, which has three weekly flights from Port Vila via Tanna.</p><br>
<p>Penteli  is a town and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens metropolitan area. It takes its name from the Penteli mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Penteli was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Melissia</p><br>
<p>Nea Penteli</p><br>
<p>Penteli</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Penteli is situated on the southern slopes of the limestone Penteli mountains. The municipality has an area of 36.064 km, the municipal unit Penteli 28.878 km. It is 14 km northeast of central Athens. Some of the neighbourhoods of Penteli are Agia Triada, Agios Dimitrios, Daou and Kallithea.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The bones of prehistoric animals - mastodons, rhinoceros, antelope, and giraffe, along with giant turtles, hyenas and other animals no longer extant in the area - have been found among the limestone crags of the mountain that looms over the present suburb of Athens. The Penteli mountains were renowned in Classical Greece as well as in the Roman Empire as a source of the marble, which was also used to build the Parthenon. The Romans constructed a 140-foot water tower and aqueduct to supply water to the city of Athens.</p><br>
<p>During the Greek War of Independence, the French philhellene Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance supported the revolutionary leaders. When she settled in Greece in 1834, she bought large plots of land in Athens and on the Penteli mountain. She had the Rododafni Castle in Penteli built for her.</p><br>
<p>In July 1995, Penteli was ravaged by a large forest fire. According to Turkish former prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz, many of the forest fires that raged the Greek countryside during that summer were accually started by Turkish secret service agents. The forests of Penteli suffered damage again from the August 2007 fires.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>Sights</h2><br>
<p>Rododafni Castle, also known as Pyrgos Doukissis Plakentias, a mansion built for the Duchess of Plaisance. Construction was started in 1840, but it was not finished until 1961, when Constantine II of Greece moved into it.</p><br>
<p>The Penteli Astronomical Station of the National Observatory of Athens, completed in 1936</p><br>
<p>Mundaring Weir is a dam  located 39 km from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Helena River.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>A soldier, Ensign Robert Dale, became the first European to explore the region in 1829.</p><br>
<p>European populations did not grow significantly until construction of the dam in the late 1890s. This involved the building of a railway line from Mundaring to the Mundaring Weir site. The Irish Australian engineer C. Y. O&#39;Connor was involved in the design of a scheme that transported water to the Eastern Goldfields of Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in the eastern part of Western Australia.</p><br>
<p>The weir was completed in 1903.</p><br>
<p>The lake created by the dam was known as the Helena River Reservoir, however it is now known as Lake C.Y. O&#39;Connor.</p><br>
<p>The owner of the dam, the Water Corporation, refers to the weir as Mundaring Dam on its website, but no other authority, such as Geographic Names, or Geosciences Australia uses this term. The Mundaring Shire uses an image of the Mundaring Weir in its logo.</p><br>
<p>Work commenced to raise the dam in the late 1940s, and was completed in November 1951.</p><br>
<p>In the early 1970s the downstream dam from the weir—the Lower Helena Pumpback Dam—was constructed.</p><br>
<p>It last overflowed into the Helena Valley in 1996.</p><br>
<h2>Dam monitoring</h2><br>
<p>Like any structure of its age and design, the weir requires monitoring and repairs and maintenance.</p><br>
<p>On the original structure the central small building was used for aspects of monitoring the weir&#39;s internal status – it was rebuilt on the heightening of the dam, although it was no longer used for its original purpose.</p><br>
<p>In 2009 two face wall entrance points were created on either side (north and south) of the face to facilitate access to the monitoring tunnels. The weir leaks, and the two photos following show consistent stain/moisture points between 2008 and 2010 where water moves through the structure:</p><br>
<h2>Changes 2010–2014</h2><br>
<p>A new pump station with an initial capacity of 165,000 m&sup3; per day, and an ultimate capacity of 240,000 m&sup3; per day, commenced operations in March 2014. The existing two pump stations, a substation and chlorination facility were decommissioned. New treatment facilities included pre-treatment, filtration, chlorination, stabilisation and fluoridation. The old facilities were not able to sustain increasing water demands and current Australian drinking water guidelines. Aesthetic water qualities such as colour, taste and odour had deteriorated over the years.</p><br>
<h2>Railway</h2><br>
<p>Mundaring Weir was the terminus of the Mundaring Weir Branch Railway, which was originally constructed by the Public Works Department of WA for the transport of materials for the construction of the dam.</p><br>
<p>It was only after the completion of the weir that the location became popular with picnickers and sightseers, as the project caught the imagination of the public in Perth.</p><br>
<p>The landscaped grounds of the weir, and the lower zig-zag section of the end of the railway line (which can still be seen when the capacity of the dams falls below approximately 35%) feature prominently in postcards of numerous weekend and special picnic excursion trains that travelled to the weir from the 1910s until the late 1940s.</p><br>
<p>The steepness of the Mundaring weir railway line restricted the capacity of the railways to conduct the picnic trains, as the Msa Garratt steam engines were the most suitable, but in short supply, at times when the weir was overflowing in the 1940s.</p><br>
<p>The railway line was closed in 1952.</p><br>
<p>Additionally, a tramway, using timber rails, was constructed to convey sawn timber from a mill 3 mi from the site of what is today known as The Dell in Paulls Valley to the weir from where it was railed on the above railway line. It opened in 1909 and closed in 1913.</p><br>
<h2>Facilities</h2><br>
<p>The old "Pumping Station Number 1" is now the C Y O&#39;Connor Museum run by the National Trust. There is also the Kookaburra outdoor cinema, and the Department of Environment and Conservation has the Hills Forest activity centre, as well as a regional administrative office.</p><br>
<p>Before rationalisation of its work force at this locality, the Water Authority of Western Australias operations at the Weir maintained housing for its workers. There is a youth hostel (built at the site of the now defunct primary school), an art gallery in the area, and many picnicking spots. There is still rangers housing at the site, along with functioning pumping stations and water treatment facilities.</p><br>
<h2>Bibbulmun Track</h2><br>
<p>The 963 km walking trail Bibbulmun Track commences in Kalamunda following Piesse Brook, then along the south side of the Helena valley. Crossing the weir wall the track follows the northern side of C.Y.O&#39;Connor lake before turning south and continuing the journey to Albany.</p><br>
<h2>Golden Pipeline Project</h2><br>
<p>The history and context of the whole Goldfields Water Supply Scheme was celebrated by the Golden Pipeline project, where the Water Corporation had the National Trust of Australia (WA) create an "interpretation" of the history of the scheme with guide books, trails, and web-sites to provide information about the history of the scheme. Most of this project was developed between 2001 and 2003.</p><br>
<p>An Indian Wells California Historical Landmark was erected near the Indian Wells Lodge, 4.9 miles north of Freeman Junction on Highway 14 where William L. Manly found water after his group left Death Valley.</p><br>
<p>This marker was placed by California Centennials Commission in cooperation with Kern County Historical Society and dedicated on July 9, 1950.</p><br>
<p>The inscription on the plaque reads:</p><br>
<p>Indian water hole on Joseph R. Walker trail of 1834 where Manly-Jayhawker parties of 1849 found their first water after five days of travel from Argus Range. During 1860&#39;s was site of stage and freight station from Los Angeles to Coso and Cerro Gordo mines.</p><br>
<p>This site is California Historical Landmark #457.</p><br>
<p>Cocos Island  is an island 1 mi off the southern tip of the United States territory of Guam, located within the Merizo Barrier Reef, part of the municipality of Merizo. The island is uninhabited, 1,600 m long in a southwest-northeast direction, between 200 m and 300 m wide, and has an area of 386,303 m&sup2;. It sits atop the southwestern coral reef rim of Cocos Lagoon.</p><br>
<p>The east coast of the island is a day resort with a pool, volleyball court, cafe, ice cream parlor, restaurant and bar, and water sports equipment rentals. Visitors to the resort can snorkel, dive, kayak, dolphin watch, parasail, jet ski and bike. The west side is public land, part of the Territorial Park System. Ferries run to Merizo, Guam.</p><br>
<p>During the Spanish times, the island was owned by Don Ignacio Mendiola Dela Cruz (Tuan). In the late 1920s, the US Government acquired ⅔ of the island via Eminent Domain. In the mid-1930s Don Ignacio sold the remaining ⅓ to a Businessman named Gottwald. A Coast Guard long-range navigation station was built and operated on Cocos Island from 1944-1963. In the late 80s to early 90&#39;s, the US Govt. returned the larger portion of the island to the Guam Government, who then turned it into a Park.</p><br>
<p>Military tests on soil from Cocos Island in late 2005 showed levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination 4,900 times higher than the federally recommended level. Tests on twelve species of fish in the lagoon showed all but one of those species had high levels of PCBs. One had 265 times the acceptable level. The contamination most likely originated from transformers and other electrical equipment at the Coast Guard station, but was not tested for earlier.</p><br>
<p>Officials from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services, and the Coast Guard announced their findings on 20 February 2006 and warned people not to eat fish caught in the lagoon.</p><br>
<p>Cocos Island is one of the few locations to have had the endangered Guam rail reintroduced to it.</p><br>
<p>Rivington Pike is a hill summit on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors, overlooking the village of Rivington in Lancashire, England. The nearest towns are Adlington and Horwich. The Pike is a prominent local landmark which derives its name from the Old English hreof plus ing meaning the rough or rugged hill and pic, a pointed eminence. The hill was recorded as Rovyng in 1325 and Rivenpike in about 1540. Saxton records the name as Rivenpike Hill on his 1577 map.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and geology</h2><br>
<p>The pike at 1,191 feet (363 metres) high is the most westerly high point of Winter Hill in the West Pennine Moors. The high moorland is underlain with Carboniferous rocks, the Millstone Grit, sandstones and shales of the Lower Coal Measures which rise high above the Lancashire Plain to the west and Greater Manchester conurbation to the south. The humped shape of the summit coincides with a coal seam of the Lower Coal Measures at around 1,148 feet (350 metres) that outcropped and was mined around 1800. There is evidence of bell pits close to the summit.</p><br>
<p>The natural vegetation is characterised by areas of blanket bog, impoverished upland heath and acid grassland.</p><br>
<p>An extensive network of footpaths leads to the summit. The highest part of the route to the summit is a footpath and steps built in the 1990s to combat erosion and prevent further deterioration. From the summit it is possible to see Blackpool Tower, the Lake District mountains, the Welsh mountains and as far as the Isle of Man on the clearest days.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>There are prehistoric sites at Noon Hill tumulus on Winter Hill, at Coblowe hillock by the Lower Rivington Reservoir and it is possible that a standing stone occupied the summit in the prehistoric period. An archaeological dig found evidence of prehistoric activity at nearby Winter Hill but Rivington Pike summit has never been subject to an archaeological survey.</p><br>
<p>In 1904 author, Fergusson Irvine described the Pike as "the curious hog-backed mound which crowns the summit of the hill and on which stands the Beacon, shows signs of having been at least shaped by artificial means. No doubt it is mainly a natural feature, but there are distinct traces of its having been trimmed and the approach steepened at several points".</p><br>
<h3>Beacon</h3><br>
<p>The prominent summit of Rivington Pike was the site of one of a series of beacons spanning England as an early warning system. The beacon system was put in place by Ranulph de Blundeville, 4th Earl of Chester around 1139, following a Scottish raid in 1138, when a small Lancashire army was defeated near Clitheroe by a much larger Scottish force. The beacon was lit on 19 July 1588 to signal the Spanish Armada was heading towards English shores. Beacons were lit near to the tower for the coronation of King George V in 1910, at the end of the Great War in 1918 and in 1977 and 2012 to celebrate the Silver and Diamond Jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II.</p><br>
<h3>Tower</h3><br>
<p>The landmark Pike Tower is a Grade II* listed building on the summit. John Andrews of Rivington Hall built the tower in gritstone on the site of the beacon using its stone for the foundations. It was built as a hunting lodge. Square in plan with sides 16 ft in length and 20 ft high, it was built with a wooden roof, three windows and a door all of which are now blocked up. The roof was hidden by a parapet with pointed corner and intermediate steps. Inside its only room retains a fireplace and once had a chimney. The room is 13 ft square with a cellar underneath its stone flagged floor and was originally wood panelled. It had a 1733 date stone marking the year of its completion which has been removed.</p><br>
<p>William Lever gifted land at Lever Park in Rivington to the people of Bolton which included the Pike Tower which was subsequently owned by Liverpool Corporation as part of an agreement for water supplies. The corporation neglected the tower and planned to demolish it in 1967. After a public outcry and legal action the land was transferred to Chorley Rural District Council who restored the building in 1973 and completed further work in the 1990s. The land is now owned by United Utilities.</p><br>
<h3>Events</h3><br>
<p>Rivington Pike Fair held annually on Whit Saturday was moved to Good Friday in 1900. It was held at the highest part of Georges Lane, close to the summit. The fair attracted people from Horwich, Chorley and further afield. During the 1830s an increase in drunken and riotous behaviour following the fair brought prompt and stern measures from the local authorities. Two men from Bolton were charged with "Neglect of Divine Service". The arrival of the Manchester and Bolton Railways extension to Preston and the opening of Blackrod railway station in 1841 brought more visitors which was sustained until the introduction of seaside excursions in about 1860 resulted in a decline in visitors.</p><br>
<p>In the early 20th century, car and motorcycle races were held up on the pike. From 1906 to 1912, Bolton motorists witnessed the performance of cars and motorbikes in the hands of some notable drivers of the day on the private roads of the Rivington estate. Under the auspices of the North-East Lancs Automobile Club and the Lancashire Motor-Cycle Club, the first hill-climb races took place on 25 July 1906. Competitors were limited to members of the club, and the race was divided into 10 classes according to the list price of the car. In 2011, 4x4 cars caused significant criminal damage in the Chinese gardens and around the pike.</p><br>
<h4>Festivals</h4><br>
<p>Music festivals and north country fairs were held in the Chinese gardens on the slope of the pike in 1976 and 1977 and locally named "flower power invasions". Bands included Body, Tractor, The Damned and Here and Now. The 1976 festival inspired a group from Rochdale to launch the Deeply Vale Festivals in mid September 1976.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>The Rivington Pike Fell Race has been held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday since 1892. The fell race originally started from Horwich railway works, but since 1930 from the park entrance at Lever Park Avenue. It attracts around 400 runners. The course is 3¼ miles and has a 700-feet ascent.</p><br>
<p>The area is popular with walkers and an extensive network of public footpaths provides access to the hillside and surrounding moorland. Many walkers continue the Good Friday tradition of walking to the pike summit.</p><br>
<h2>Folklore</h2><br>
<p>According to folklore, the area around Rivington Pike was the haunt of a spectral horseman, described as demonic or revenant from which a young man is said to have had a lucky escape from in the 1700s.</p><br>
<h2>Nearby hill summits</h2><br>
<p>Santa Clara Island  is a tiny, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Robinson Crusoe Island in a group of islands known as the Juan Fernández Islands. The island is of volcanic origin and is approximately 1 km long and 0.6 km wide. The island group is politically part of the South American country Chile, and is administratively assigned to the Region of Valparaíso.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Santa Clara is the smallest island of the Juan Fernandez Islands and has an area of about 2.2 km&sup2;. It is surrounded on the south side by a reef. This volcanic islet is related to a group of three islands. Located 1.5 km southwest of Robinson Crusoe Island, it has a mainly flat surface, with a maximum altitude of 376 m at Johow Hill. Based on its geomorphological characteristics and the composition of its lavas, it is postulated to be the earlisest volcanic center which led to the emergence of Robinson Crusoe Island, and is, therefore, of greater antiquity - 5.8 million years (as compared to 3.8 - 4.2 million years).</p><br>
<p>Santa Clara includes volcanic rocks and several small beaches, including some white sand beaches. A short distance from the western extremity of Santa Clara Island, there is a small rocky islet, and, at the tip south of the same islet, there is a sandbar composed of various rocks which break the water. Coming from the north, the island of Santa Clara has the appearance of a cliff or escarpment; but approaching from the south, shows an eroded quirky aspect of conical mounds and strangely cut rocks. Waters surrounding the island have a rocky bottom, with strong currents. Access by boat to the island is dangerous, especially in stormy weather, because the strong sea breaks on all sides.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Being low-lying in elevation, Santa Clara catches relatively little rainfall. The amount of rainfall also depends on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The climate is subtropical, strongly influenced by fluctuations in the general northward flow of the cold sub-Antarctic Humboldt ocean current and the southeast trade winds, which create a high-winter and low-summer rainfall pattern and a stable temperature environment. Temperatures range throughout the year from 3 &deg;C to 34 &deg;C, with an annual mean of 15.4 &deg;C.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Santa Clara is generally desolate and barren, but in its eastern slope there are some trees, and in the northwest tip a periodical stream of water runs along the gorge, which reaches the sea.</p><br>
<p>The low vegetation has been eroded in the past by herds of goats up on the rocks. The native flora is characterized by low fire tolerance and poor adaptation to herbivore resistance. Feral rabbits are the greatest threat because they exert devastating effects on the island’s habitats.</p><br>
<p>The majority of the original vegetation on the island has been replaced by shrubs and grasses. The vegetation is a miniature mosaic of matorral, barren rock, various size trees, and shrubs mixed with ferns and perennial herbs. Nearly all of Santa Clara is abundant in the introduced Rubus ulmifolius, Aristotelia chilensis, Ugni molinae, Lantana camara and Lonicera japonica. Some have the potential to be serious pests, having fleshy fruits that are bird dispersed, in addition to weeds such as Danthonia collina, Stipa laevissima and Piptochaetium bicolor. There are no permanent sources of fresh water on the island. Vertebrates inhabiting the islet include birds, some endangered, which make their nests on or visit the island.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>The uninhabited island is part of a municipality in the Region of Valparaíso, from which Easter Island is also administered. The main economic activities are fishing of the spiny lobster, Jasus frontalis, and tourism. The entire archipelago has been part of a nature reserve called the Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park since 1977.</p><br>
<p>Slide Mountain is the highest peak in the Catskill Mountains of the USA state of New York. It is located in the town of Shandaken in Ulster County. While the 4,180 ft contour line on topographic maps is generally accepted as its height, the exact elevation of the summit has never been officially determined by the USA Coast and Geodetic Survey, and many informal surveys suggest the mountain may actually top 4,200 feet  above sea level.</p><br>
<p>While it was not identified as the ranges highest peak until the late 19th century, it has played a prominent role in Catskill history. Renowned naturalist John Burroughs wrote memorably of his climbs up Slide, and it helped get the Catskills added to New Yorks Forest Preserve. Bicknell&#39;s thrush was first identified on its summit.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Like most other Catskill peaks, Slide&#39;s summit is gentle and rounded, taking the form of a narrow ridge that rises to a wider bump on its eastern end. From there the mountain slopes down steeply to the col with neighboring Cornell Mountain.</p><br>
<p>At the western end, a broad slope, part of the Catskill Divide, leads down to the gap between Slide and Hemlock Mountain to the west and Winnisook Lake, the source of Esopus Creek, to the mountain&#39;s northwest.</p><br>
<p>Two more pronounced ridges lead off the mountain, one to the southwest and the col with Wildcat Mountain, the other to the north and Giant Ledge.</p><br>
<p>Both upper branches of the Neversink River begin on the mountain&#39;s slopes.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the Catskills, Slide is also the highest point of:</p><br>
<p>Ulster County.</p><br>
<p>the Delaware River watershed.</p><br>
<p>all of New York State outside the Adirondack High Peaks region.</p><br>
<p>a 300 kilometer (186.5 miles) radius of New York City. (Slide is located roughly 90 mi north/northwest of Manhattan; the southwest flank of Vermont&#39;s Killington Peak, about 193 mi north northeast of the Bronx, is the next closest point of equal elevation.)</p><br>
<p>It is also the southernmost peak in the Northeast exceeding 4,000 ft. The Appalachians do not rise to that level again until West Virginia.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Identification as highest Catskill peak</h3><br>
<p>For a mountain with so many superlatives, Slide actually took a long time to be discovered for what it was.</p><br>
<p>The mountain received its name locally from a landslide in 1819 on its north face near the summit. The scar can still be seen today, and was partially gouged out again by another slide in 1982.</p><br>
<p>Slide would not be established as the highest peak in the range until 1886, long after much of the interior Northeast and their mountain ranges had been surveyed and settled. Due to land disputes and schemes that dated back to the colonial period, no complete, impartial survey of the entire Catskill region had been carried out until then.</p><br>
<p>Seven years earlier, Princeton geology professor Arnold Henry Guyot had been staying at the popular Catskill Mountain House when he became interested in the surrounding mountains, and management&#39;s claim that nearby Kaaterskill High Peak (3,655 ft) was the highest in all the Catskills despite growing doubt. His survey, carried out on his own time and at his own expense, established that Slide, located some distance to the southwest, was far and away the highest peak in the range. His findings were vehemently disputed by the hotelkeepers around North-South Lake until others confirmed his results.</p><br>
<p>There was a movement, once its status had been confirmed, to give Slide a name believed to be more fitting for a highest peak. "Mount Lincoln," after the late USA president, was popular for a while. But it ended when Guyot announced that he preferred Slide, as he had followed local custom wherever possible in naming the peaks for his survey.</p><br>
<p>Legends have grown up over the years in the Catskills over this belated discovery of the ranges highest peak. Some tell of a new owner of Hunter Mountain, the ranges other 4,000-footer and second-highest peak, swinging a level around to ensure he had bought the highest peak until being stopped by Slide. Another story has John Burroughs, who later became rich and famous writing about his hikes up Slide and other nearby mountains, proving the case atop the mountain by having his friends aim a rifle with a ball in the barrel at all other contending peaks and observing that the ball fell out every time.</p><br>
<p>Regardless, tourism soon shifted to the new highest peak, and a local woodsman, Jim Dutcher, who knew the mountain well from his days peeling hemlock bark for tanning, built a hotel and did a regular business escorting visitors to the summit up a trail he built in 1880. While it runs over privately owned land and has been abandoned since 1941 save for the final section leading across the summit ridge from the west, it still exists and can be followed.</p><br>
<h3>Forest Preserve</h3><br>
<p>Around the same time, Slide would prove instrumental in creating New York&#39;s Forest Preserve as it exists today.</p><br>
<p>Some of the other private lands near the mountain had been utterly deprived of any value by tanners who had decided to boost their profits by neglecting to pay their property taxes and simply leaving the area. At that time, when the county took possession through foreclosure, it was among those required by the state to guarantee payment of state property taxes.</p><br>
<p>Many county voters and landowners felt shafted, leading Ulster to refuse to pay despite a court order. Their representatives in Albany worked out a compromise by which the lands in question were given to the state as part of the newly established Forest Preserve, originally meant to include just the Adirondacks, to satisfy the county&#39;s unpaid debts to the state. That was the beginning of what ultimately became the Catskill Park.</p><br>
<p>On June 11, 1886, a delegation from the states forest commission climbed Slide to give some sort of official recognition to the peak and the Catskill Forest Preserve. While they used Dutchers trail, the man himself did not take part... in fact, he did no maintenance on the trail beforehand, since he was a Republican and the commissioners had been appointed by Democratic governor David Hill. Nevertheless, the party got to the summit, where Townsend Cox, head of the commission, declared the view as fine as anything to be found in the Adirondacks.</p><br>
<p>The next year the state decided to use 200 acres (80 ha) along the West Branch of the Neversink at the west slope of the mountain (south of the current trailhead) to reintroduce white-tailed deer, which had been seriously thinned in the area over the preceding century. A 10-foot (3 m) wooden fence was built around the whole area to protect them from poaching, and eventually 95 deer were released back into the wild, successfully re-establishing the species.</p><br>
<p>Ironically, today there are actually very few deer in that area, because the undisturbed forest no longer offers as much of the second- and third-growth species deer prefer to feed on, and predators such as black bears have become more numerous as well.</p><br>
<p>The new legislation helped Slide score a significant first in 1892, when the state appropriated $250 to build a trail, paralleling Dutcher&#39;s, up the west side of the mountain — the first trail built at public expense in the Forest Preserve. A survey was also authorized to determine whether it was on public land, and even though it was not the trail was built anyway.</p><br>
<p>While heavily eroded and rocky, it is still in use today as part of the Burroughs Range Trail and remains the most frequently used ascent.</p><br>
<p>Two years later the Forest Preserve legislation was written into a new version of New York&#39;s constitution as Article 14.</p><br>
<h3>John Burroughs</h3><br>
<p>Slides fame was spread far and wide by Burroughs. He had often been able to see the peaks summit ridge from Old Clump Mountain near his boyhood home in Delaware County, likening it to seeing a horse grazing from behind.</p><br>
<p>He tried to climb the mountain several times with friends, and his account of his successful ascent from nearby Woodland Valley, "The Heart of the Southern Catskills," is one of his best works. He wrote of the view from the summit:</p><br>
<p>"Here the works of man dwindle," was put on a plaque near the summit by the Winnisook Club shortly after his death in 1921 and placed on a ledge near the summit that offers the best view from the mountain. It has since been known as Burroughs Ledge.</p><br>
<h3>Eugene Bicknell</h3><br>
<p>Another early visitor to the mountain was an amateur ornithologist from Brooklyn named Eugene Bicknell. On one of those days, he caught a small brown thrush near the summit which he was unable to identify as belonging to any known species of that time.</p><br>
<p>The bird was named Slide Mountain thrush at first, then Bicknell&#39;s thrush when it was found living high up in the boreal forests of other Northeastern mountains. But it was not studied, as prevailing scientific opinion of the time considered it a subspecies of the gray-cheeked thrush. Only in the late 20th century did newer research methods such as DNA comparisons prove that it was, indeed, a separate species, setting off a scramble to save habitat and learn as much as possible about it.</p><br>
<h3>Early 20th century</h3><br>
<p>The trail built in 1892 had been meant to facilitate travel to the lookout towers that existed in some form or another on the mountain&#39;s summit. Recreational visitors found views from the summit severely limited without a stand to get above the trees; the state was interested in fire control.</p><br>
<p>Despite the peak&#39;s importance in establishing the Forest Preserve in the Catskills, much of the land remained in private hands. While purchases in 1900 did much to change that, it would take until 1928 before the state actually acquired the summit property and much of the land it had already built a trail on.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, a small military training plane crashed on the mountain&#39;s east slope at about 3,620 feet (1,103 m). While most of the debris is gone, the site can still be reached via a short side path from the Burroughs Range Trail.</p><br>
<h3>Wilderness area</h3><br>
<p>In the mid-1960s, the formal organization of the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, the range&#39;s first peak bagging organization, gave more hikers a reason to climb the mountain as they were required to do so at least twice, once in wintertime and once during the rest of the year, for membership.</p><br>
<p>Around the same time, the Long Path was also routed over the mountain when it was finally established as a marked trail rather than a collection of points of interest. The summit is still the highest point on the entire trail.</p><br>
<p>A major change in management of the mountain occurred in the mid-1970s, after the state&#39;s Conservation Commission had become the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Temporary Commission on the Future of the Catskills had recommended that it establish a master plan for all the Catskill lands. Slide would wind up lending its name to the state-designated Slide Mountain Wilderness Area, the largest in the Catskills at 47,500 acres (190 km²). New regulations also ended abuse of the summit by campers.</p><br>
<p>For many years, the first two miles (3 km) or so of the trail climbing Slide crossed the property of the nearby Winnisook Club. There was a metal gate across the Burroughs Range Trail marking the property line, below which nearly every tree had a No Trespassing sign on it. Because of the 1970s hiking boom, parking along the road at Winnisook Lake (there was no parking lot) had become a nightmare. In the late 1970s, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation solved the problem by buying the land south of the ridgeline from the Winnisook Club, making all but the last stretch of trail to Winnisook Lake public land. Then, in its first-ever Unit Management Plan for the wilderness area, they built a new parking lot further south down Ulster County Road 47 and relocated the trail onto the new public land, ending at the new parking lot. This was the trailhead for a new section of the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail, which connected to the carriage road commonly used very near the base of the Burroughs Range Trail.</p><br>
<p>This new section requires crossing the west branch of the Neversink right at the beginning. While it is normally not difficult to follow the stepping stones, the creek can be impassable and even fatal in high water. In December 2000, Timothy O&#39;Lear, a Boy Scout from Long Island drowned when he fell in and was caught under some nearby tree branches when returning after a weekend backpacking trip. He is memorialized with a small plaque on a bench at the beginning of the trail.</p><br>
<h2>Natural environment</h2><br>
<h3>Forest</h3><br>
<p>Slide&#39;s slopes are covered with a typical Catskills ridge hardwood forest of various maple species, yellow birch and beech at lower elevations and a boreal forest composed predominantly of balsam fir at higher elevations. Paper birch can be found where the two forests begin to change over.</p><br>
<p>Catskill forest researcher Michael Kudish has found an anomalous grove of sugar maple at roughly 3,900 feet (1,189 m) in elevation just off the trail near the western end of the mountain&#39;s summit ridge.</p><br>
<p>He has also noted that, in contrast to the boreal forests on other Catskill High Peaks, Slide&#39;s has no red spruce. He does not believe there ever has been any. There are some groves and isolated individual trees on lower elevations on the mountain.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>One of the mountain&#39;s more curious features is the white quartz pebbles found on the trail along the summit ridge, which lend it something of a garden-path feel.</p><br>
<p>These are found nowhere else in the Catskills, and since it is likely that they would not have survived the Wisconsin glaciation, it has been speculated that Slide&#39;s summit may have been a nunatak during that time, protruding above the ice which buried all the other peaks. However, one researcher reportedly found striation marks on rocks along the summit ridge, suggesting that glaciers did indeed cover the summit. Those marks have eroded over time, however, becoming more difficult to confirm, and the consensus now is that they may have been left instead by glaciers during the Illinoian Stage prior to the Wisconsin Stage.</p><br>
<h2>Approaches</h2><br>
<p>Trailed and trailless routes exist to the summit. To protect the higher-elevation forests, DEC regulations prohibit camping above 3,500 feet (1,067 m) anywhere on Forest Preserve land in the Catskills except between December 21 and March 21. Open fires are banned in those areas all year round.</p><br>
<h3>Trails</h3><br>
<p>Three trails combine to create three possible approaches to the mountain, although only one crosses the summit.</p><br>
<h4>Burroughs Range Trail from the west</h4><br>
<p>The most popular route up Slide has always been from the pass between it and the mountains to the west, where the high elevation at the trailhead has greatly reduced the vertical ascent required. The move from Winnisook Lake to the new state trailhead has added to the climb slightly, but it is still less than that required to climb some of the lower Catskill High Peaks.</p><br>
<p>After crossing the upper west branch of the Neversink at the trailhead, 2,400 feet (731.5 m) in elevation, the yellow-blazed P-EB trail works its way gently up slope and over some lesser streams 0.7 mile (1 km) to the old carriage road it originally followed through the Winnisook Club property. It follows this south past a reliable spring 0.3 mile (500 m) to the western terminus of the red-blazed Burroughs Range Trail, the old horse trail built in 1892.</p><br>
<p>This works its way steadily up Slide&#39;s southwest ridge for about a mile to the summit ridge, where boreal forest takes over and it abruptly turns to the north, then west again to follow the north side of the summit ridge. Shortly after this latter turn, the old Dutcher Trail, marked by very faded orange blazes, comes in from the north. The remainder of this section, where the treadway lies heavy with the white quartz pebbles, is the trail Dutcher built and used in his day.</p><br>
<p>An official trail, the Curtis-Ormsbee (see below), soon comes in from the south. At this point the Long Path also joins the trail. From here it is 0.7 mile (1 km) to the summit, with spectacular views to the north opening up at several points along the way. The best is just short of the summit, just above the top of the slides that give the mountain its name.</p><br>
<p>Total distance via this route is 2.75 miles (4.4 km), with a vertical ascent of 1,700 feet (518 m).</p><br>
<h4>Curtis-Ormsbee Trail</h4><br>
<p>Reached from the same starting point, the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail adds more distance to the overall trip but is a favorite with serious hikers since it offers an additional viewpoint and passes through more scenic stretches of forest. It is the route the Long Path takes up the peak.</p><br>
<p>It is named in memory of William Buckingham Curtis and Allan Ormsbee, two hikers from New York who died in a sudden snowstorm in the Presidential Range of New Hampshires White Mountains on June 30, 1900. They had laid the trail out, and a small monument to them is located at the trails southern end, where it leaves the Phoenicia-East Branch Trail 0.8 mile (1.2 km) south of the Burroughs Range Trail junction, in the col between Slide and neighboring Wildcat Mountain.</p><br>
<p>The blue-blazed trail, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long follows another ridge up to the junction with the Burroughs Range Trail on the summit ridge. Just above the signs indicating the camping and fire restrictions that NYSDEC has put in place for areas above 3,500 feet (1,067 m) in the Catskills to protect the montane forests, there are two viewpoints just off the trail. One takes in Table and Lone mountains; the other offers the only good glimpse of the lowest High Peak, remote and challenging Rocky Mountain. It continues to the summit through long and fragrant stretches of balsam fir and soil muddy enough to require puncheon bridges in some areas.</p><br>
<p>It is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) to the summit via this route. Many hikers make a loop of the trip if time permits, ascending via the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail and returning down the Burroughs Range Trail, a total trip of 6.85 miles (11 km).</p><br>
<p>The beginning of the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail can also be reached by using the Long Path approach and coming from the southern end of the Phoencia-East Branch Trail, 2.95 miles (4.7 km) away in the town of Denning. Vertical rise to the summit via this route is almost 2,000 feet (609 m), and the total distance to the summit is 6.25 miles (10.1 km).</p><br>
<h4>Burroughs Range Trail from the east</h4><br>
<p>The most challenging route to the summit of Slide begins at the Burroughs Range Trail’s eastern terminus, Woodland Valley State Campground south of Phoenicia. It takes in the whole range, going over Wittenberg and Cornell mountains for a 7-mile (11.2-km), 2,700-foot (823 m) ascent. Wittenberg and Cornell are both challenging climbs in and of themselves, and the climax is the steep 900-foot (274 m) east slope of Slide.</p><br>
<p>It is not surprising that this is often done as an overnight backpacking trip, since the long col between Slide and Cornell features a spruce grove that is an excellent place to camp, and the state has accordingly designated several sites in that area. Some hikers, though, have been able to get to the summit of Slide and back to Woodland Valley in a single lengthy day, often by descending to the western trailhead and following the Phoenicia-East Branch trail back down, a grand loop of 13.95 miles (22.5 km).</p><br>
<h3>Bushwhacks</h3><br>
<p>Two approaches that are at least partially trailless have been used by those seeking greater challenges.</p><br>
<h4>The north ridge</h4><br>
<p>The ridge leading down from the summit to the col with Giant Ledge to the north is an obvious route. DEC had, at one point, planned a trail up it but the idea was dropped when hikers and hunters objected and the route was judged too environmentally fragile to support a trail.</p><br>
<p>It can be used by starting from the Giant Ledge trailhead at a hairpin turn on County Road 42, about 2,200 feet (670.5 m) in elevation. It is 0.65 mile (1 km) to the junction with the blue-blazed Fox Hollow Trail, which leads north to Giant Ledge and Panther Mountain. By striking out due south from this junction one will soon begin to climb the north ridge, reaching first a 3,620-foot (1,103.3 m) summit (on the private property of the Winnisook Club), then turning to the southeast through thickening boreal forest to the 3,800-foot (1,158 m) summit. From there the narrow, thickly forested ridge is followed steeply up to the summit ridge and the Burroughs Range Trail, about 0.25 mile (400 m) from the summit.</p><br>
<h4>East Branch of the Neversink</h4><br>
<p>A long route that very ambitious hikers have used, especially on multi-day trips with attempts on the range of trailless peaks to Slide&#39;s southeast, follows the east branch of the Neversink up to the ridge connecting Slide and Cornell.</p><br>
<p>Starting from the Denning trailhead, the P-EB Trail is followed 1.1 mile (1.8 km) to its junction with the blue-blazed Peekamoose-Table Trail, which drops down to the east 0.35 mile (560 m) into the river valley near the flood plain at the Deer Shanty Brook confluence and its many channels, some of them difficult to cross at high water. After one of the last, alert eyes can find the beginning of the "Fisherman&#39;s Path," an unofficial trail following the East Branch far upstream into the wildest country in the Catskills.</p><br>
<p>It takes some skill to follow this trail, as red paint blazes that sometimes appear are often painted out by DEC forest rangers (there are, however, some official campsites along its length) and while it is sometimes wide and obvious it is not always, and switches sides of the river several times.</p><br>
<p>Further upstream, as it passes the usual points of departure for Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap and Friday mountains, the path gets increasingly disused and harder to follow. The challenge in hiking Slide this way is not so much the mountain itself as the routefinding when it begins to climb to the col.</p><br>
<h4>Deer Shanty Brook</h4><br>
<p>The most challenging trailless route is the seldom-attempted approach up this tributary of the East Branch. It begins identically to that route but involves leaving the trail at that crossing and eventually following the brook to the slopes of Slide to the southeast. There is no trail whatsoever through this country and the boreal forest on this part of the mountain itself is reportedly difficult to penetrate, even by the standards of other peaks in the vicinity.</p><br>
<h2>Summit</h2><br>
<p>The mountain&#39;s actual height of land is a small, viewless clearing with the footings of the towers that once stood there.</p><br>
<p>Just to the west, however, is the much wider clearing of Burroughs Ledge with a sweeping view to the east in which Ashokan Reservoir is prominent, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge can be glimpsed. The neighboring high peaks to the east seem like small hills and the Devil&#39;s Path and Blackhead Range in Greene County are visible to the north. In fact, it is possible to see, from various points along the summit ridge, all but one of the other 34 Catskill High Peaks (Thomas Cole may or may not be hidden by Hunter).</p><br>
<p>At one time the view was even more expansive, but since camping on the summit is now banned except during winter and in emergencies, the balsam fir has grown back in around the edges of the clearing, giving the area a more natural look. Close inspection, in fact, can find remnants of the two lean-tos that once stood here before 1975 when camping was permitted. There is also a spring 0.25 mile (400 m) down the trail to the east.</p><br>
<p>On June 15, 1985, the summit received its most visitors ever at a single time when at least a hundred hikers, nature lovers and DEC officials gathered there to commemorate the centennial of the Forest Preserve. Similar traffic was recorded in 2004 when the Catskill Park itself reached a similar milestone.</p><br>
<h3>Towers</h3><br>
<p>The lack of an unobstructed 360-degree view from Slide has led, over the years, to several observation towers being built at the summit.</p><br>
<p>Dutcher probably built a crude one out of balsam logs, since Burroughs refers to its presence in his writings. It was still there in 1900 when another visitor recorded it.</p><br>
<p>The state wanted to take advantage of the mountains height for fire control purposes, and in 1911 built a more permanent fire lookout and observers cabin on the summit. But it would only be occupied and used for the next year, then abandoned again.</p><br>
<p>Steel for a more permanent tower was brought up to the summit in the early 1930s, but the tower itself was not built until wartime. It would be dismantled around 1965, and no replacement has been erected.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1990s, when DEC updated the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area&#39;s Unit Management Plan, it considered rebuilding an observation tower at the summit to provide the long-absent views. However, despite the historical precedent, wilderness area values governing DEC policy that were in place at the time led to the idea being rejected during the planning process.</p><br>
<p>Varina Farms, also known as Varina Plantation or Varina Farms Plantation or "Varina on the James", is a plantation established by John Rolfe on the James River about 40 miles upstream from the first settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale&#39;s 1611 settlement at Henricus.</p><br>
<p>In 1612, English colonist John Rolfe introduced the cultivation of a special strain of tobacco for export to England, which was much better-liked by the Europeans than a harsher form which grew naturally in Virginia. As his tobacco became a cash crop for the struggling colonys economy, he established a plantation estate at Varina Farms about 45 miles upstream from the first settlement at Jamestown and across the river from Sir Thomas Dales 1611 settlement at the progressive community in Henricus. Henricus was developed as a potential replacement for the shortcomings of the Jamestown location.</p><br>
<p>Varina Farms Plantation was named for a mild variety of the tobacco from Spain which was similar to the non-native strain Rolfe used in developing his successful product. The plantation became the home of Rolfe and his second wife, Rebecca (Pocahontas) whose father was the Powhatan tribe&#39;s leader for two years following their marriage in 1614. It was the birthplace of their son, Thomas Rolfe in 1615.</p><br>
<p>As "Varina Plantation", an 820 acre property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. At that time it included two contributing buildings and one other contributing sites.</p><br>
<p>In modern times, Varina Farm (as it is now called) is still actively cultivated as a working farm, and is privately owned. However, the site of the former town of Varina can be seen from Interstate 295 to the east just north of the Varina-Enon Bridge.</p><br>
<h2>Nomenclature</h2><br>
<p>There is a common misconception that Varina was named in honor of Varina (née Howell) Davis (1826–1905), who was the wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. That could not be possible because Varina Howell was born more than 200 years after Rolfe established Varina Farms in 1614. During the Civil War a man by the name of A.M. Aiken owned the plantation and it was known as Aiken&#39;s Landing. However, Mrs. Davis was greatly admired in the Richmond area. It is likely that after the American Civil War, the further and wider use of the name "Varina" locally may be partially attributed to her reputation as the First Lady of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.</p><br>
<p>Howse Pass  is a pass through the Rocky Mountains in Canada.</p><br>
<p>The pass is located in Banff National Park, between Mount Conway and Howse Peak. From here waters flow east via Conway Creek, Howse River, North Saskatchewan River to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. To the west it drains by the Blaeberry River to the Columbia River and on to the Pacific Ocean.</p><br>
<p>The pass was used by First Nations people such as the Kootenay to the west and Peigan to the east. In 1806 two men from Rocky Mountain House cut a rough road from the Howse River toward the pass. In June 1807 David Thompson crossed it to the Columbia River. It was named for Joseph Howse, a Hudson&#39;s Bay Company factor who crossed it 1809. The pass was not much used, Athabasca Pass being preferred.</p><br>
<p>Howse Pass is lower than many other passes in this range and it was considered for the Canadian Pacific&#39;s route, but Kicking Horse Pass was chosen instead. There has been some talk of building a road through the pass from Saskatchewan River Crossing to Golden, British Columbia, but this would involve cutting through the national park.</p><br>
<p>The pass was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1978.</p><br>
<p>The Buni Zom group is a prominent mountain area of Chitral, in the Hindu Raj range of Pakistan. Buni Zom  is the highest peak of the group with an elevation of 6,542 m. It is located about 50 km  northeast of the town of Chitral, and about 50 km  east of Tirich Mir , the highest peak in the Hindu Kush.</p><br>
<p>In 1957, the New Zealanders W.K.A. Berry and C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe accomplished the first ascent of the Main Peak of Buni Zom from the steep razorlike north ridge The second ascent was in 1975 by Japanese Masao Okabe, Hideo Sato and Shigeru Tabe and third ascent was in 1979 by Americans Joe Reinhard and Richard J. Isherwood both from south face.</p><br>
<p>The Buni Zom group has many other peaks, some of which have been climbed. There are 12 peaks over 6,000 m in the Buni Zom group which are unclimbed.</p><br>
<h2>Peaks of the Buni Zom Group</h2><br>
<p>Following is a list of the peaks over 6,000 meters in the Buni Zom group, from the Himalayan Index. The first ascent of the peak named Buni Zom SS or 6MT or P6110 was by Nikolas Kroupis and George Voutiropoulos on 31 July 2007 this climb is not yet recorded in the Himalayan Index, but the article is published in American Alpine Journal</p><br>
<p>Falak Sar  is the highest mountain peak in Ushu Valley of Swat, Pakistan at an elevation of 5,918 m, it is considered the highest peak of the Swat district in the Hindu Kush mountains range, followed by Mankial mountain peak.</p><br>
<h2>Ascent History</h2><br>
<p>This mountain was climbed for the first time by W.K.A Berry and C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe of New Zealand in 1957 from its North ridge. The second ascent was made by Dr. Wolf Gang Stephen who also climbed Distaghil Sar and Malika Parbat. Carlo Pinelli attempted another peak in the Hindu Raj which is the only 6000 of this part of Hindu Kush. They named it Maingol Sar.</p><br>
<p>Similarly, another ascent was made by a Japanese expedition from Yamaguchi University was composed of Yoshiyuki Nagahiro and Toshiyuki Akiyama. After traveling by car from Peshawar through Saidu Sharif, capital of Swat, to Matiltan, they continued on and headed up the Falak Sar valley, where at 11,000 feet on August 15 they established Base Camp. On August 20 they climbed Falak Sar (19,417 feet), which has had numerous previous ascents. After returning to Matiltan, they went through Kalam to the Amagal valley to an advanced base at 12,000 feet. They ascended the east side above their advanced base and reached a small peak which was called Maga Sar by the natives. They found no Miangul Sar (19,554 feet) but there was a peak called Par (c. 18,000 feet) in the position assigned the former peak.</p><br>
<p>Seneca Creek is a 5.8 mi stream in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, roughly 16 mi northwest of Washington, D.C. It drains into the Potomac River.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The creek begins with two main tributaries:</p><br>
<p>Great Seneca Creek, 21.5 mi long, begins in Damascus and flows south past Montgomery Village, Germantown, Gaithersburg and Seneca Creek State Park.</p><br>
<p>Little Seneca Creek, 14.0 mi long, rises in the Clarksburg area, flows south through Little Seneca Lake and Black Hill Regional Park, and the community of Boyds.</p><br>
<p>These tributaries converge near Darnestown. Another major tributary, Dry Seneca Creek, empties into Seneca Creek west of Darnestown. The creek continues south and passes under Seneca Aqueduct/Rileys Lock (Lock 24) of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal before it flows into the Potomac River. There is about a 600 ft change in elevation from the streams upper sources to its mouth at the Potomac. Seneca Creek has a watershed area of 121 square miles.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Depending on conditions, parts of the creek are navigable by light watercraft, such as kayaks or canoes. Near Riley’s Lock there is a boat ramp into the creek which provides access to the Potomac River.</p><br>
<p>An area of about 6,300 acre along 14.75 mi of the creek has been set aside as Seneca Creek State Park. It has trails including the 16.5 mi Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, the 10 mi Schaeffer Farm Trail, and many shorter and easier trails. Parking and picnic areas are provided at various locations in the park. Long Draught Creek, a small tributary north of Gaithersburg has been dammed to form the 90 acre Clopper Lake which is the centerpiece of the parks day use area. This area includes multiple picnic areas, a disc golf course, boat rentals for the lake, and restroom facilities. Just west of the creeks mouth is the Seneca Quarry, the quarry that provided the red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle and locks 8 - 27 of the C&O Canal. The remains of the 1837 stone cutting mill are still intact, though unmarked; above the quarry is the restored quarry masters house. Both are within state park lands.</p><br>
<p>During the 1920s and 1930s Seneca was a popular vacation spot for people from lower Montgomery County and Washington who came to Seneca for the cooler temperatures, boating, swimming, and fishing. There was a hotel near the canal and cottages lined the creek until they were washed away or destroyed by the several floods that have affected this area. Unfortunately Seneca has been the site of many drownings and boating accidents over the years. Today the area is a popular local recreation area.</p><br>
<p>Seven Pines and the Seven Pines National Cemetery are located in the unincorporated town of Sandston in Henrico County, Virginia. Cemetery records state the name is derived from for a group of seven pine trees planted within the national cemetery in 1869 near the intersection of the old Williamsburg-Richmond Stage Road and the Nine Mile Road, however, the name "Seven Pines" pre-dates the establishment of the cemetery. Earlier maps and records, especially those from the American Civil War, commonly refer to the location as "Seven Pines." Today, the surrounding area is still referred to as "Seven Pines" although the local township is Sandston.</p><br>
<h2>Background</h2><br>
<p>During the Civil War, several major battles of the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 took place nearby, including the Seven Pines (as named in Confederate records; the name in Federal records was Fair Oaks), and the smaller engagements of Oak Grove, Goldings Farm, Allens Farm, Savages Station, and White Oak Swamp. The National Cemetery was established in 1866. Most of the interments are of Federal (Union) soldiers that were originally hastily buried on the Seven Pines battlefield in makeshift graves. The cemeterys 1.9 acre are located near the center of General George B. McClellans second and main defense line of the May 31, 1862. To help facilitate visitation, an electric street railway was built to the site by a company formed in 1888. The railway has long since been removed and most visitors now park in the cemeterys driveway next to the caretaker&#39;s lodge.</p><br>
<p>Seven Pines National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.</p><br>
<p>The Centre Block  is the main building of the Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons and Senate chambers, as well as the offices of a number of members of parliament, senators, and senior administration for both legislative houses. It is also the location of several ceremonial spaces, such as the Hall of Honour, the Memorial Chamber, and Confederation Hall.</p><br>
<p>Built in the Gothic Revival style, the present Centre Block is the building&#39;s second iteration. The first was destroyed by fire in 1916; all that remains of the original building is the Library of Parliament, at the rear of the Centre Block. Though construction began immediately after the blaze, sculpting work on the interior continued through the 1970s. One of the most recognizable buildings in Canada, the Centre Block is depicted on the Canadian $10 bill (the Library of Parliament), $20 bill (the Peace Tower), and the $50 bill.</p><br>
<h2>Characteristics</h2><br>
<p>Designed by Jean Omer Marchand and John A. Pearson, the Centre Block is a 144 m long by 75 m deep, and six storey high, symmetrical structure built in the modern Gothic Revival style. As such, it displays a multitude of stone carvings, including gargoyles, grotesques, and friezes, keeping with the Victorian High Gothic style of the rest of the parliamentary complex. The walls are faced with more than 50,000 blocks of over 24 different types of stone, though a rustic finished Nepean sandstone is the predominant kind of masonry, with dressed stone trim around the 550 windows and other edges. The roof is of reinforced concrete covered with copper, and dotted with dormer windows. The interior walls are sheeted with Tyndall stone, a dolomitic limestone quarried in southeastern Manitoba and chosen by the architect for the richness of its vibrant colour and rich texture, formed by darker brown spots caused by fine fern markings. These surfaces are augmented by sculptural decoration done in Indiana limestone.</p><br>
<p>The Centre Block houses offices and facilities, including the prime ministers office, that of the leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition, and the offices of other party leaders, as well as senators, ministers, and commons staff. Further, there are numerous parliamentary committee rooms and the Parliamentary Press Gallery.</p><br>
<h3>Confederation Hall</h3><br>
<p>The Centre Block is arranged symmetrically around Confederation Hall, located immediately inside the main entrance. It is an octagonal chamber, the perimeter of which is divided by limestone clustered columns into eight bays of two different sizes, themselves subdivided by dark green syenite pillars. Behind these runs a vaulted ambulatory that supports the upper gallery. The arcaded arches are topped by gables sculpted to commemorate the confederated nature of Canada and they support one side of the hall&#39;s fan vaulted ceiling with carved bosses, while the other side rests on a single column in the centre of the room. This column is borne on a stone carved with an image of Neptune amongst sea lions and fish in a mythical sea. It was placed at noon on 2 July 1917, to mark the 50th anniversary of Confederation, and above it was carved the words:</p><br>
<p>Around the central column is an inlaid marble floor with a 16-point windrose of Verde Antique serpentine from Roxbury, Vermont, and a swirl pattern of green serpentine from the Greek island of Tinos, embedded in Missisquoi Boulder Grey marble, from Philipsburg, Quebec. The overall pattern represents the essential element of water, alluding to Canada&#39;s motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (From Sea to Sea). The inner and outer circles of the floor are made of a Missisquoi Black marble from Philipsburg, Quebec, and white travertine from Italy, as well as Verde Antique serpentine separated by a band of Missisquoi Boulder Grey marble.</p><br>
<p>Though a design model of the room was presented as early as January 1918, Confederation Hall was the last part of the Centre Blocks interior to be completed; the Missisquoi black marble base was laid on 11 August 1921 and the Tyndall limestone vault—built from a full scale wood and plaster model—was completed in December of the following year. Still, the detailed carving, the designs for which had been finalised by Cléophas Soucy in 1941, remained incomplete until 1953, due to occurrence of the Second World War. Upon completion of this work, the tympanums were adorned with the coats of arms of Canada and the provinces, each surrounded by relevant floral symbols: on the east wall thistles for Nova Scotia, Tudor roses for Prince Edward Island, and grapes and apples for New Brunswick; on the south wall lilies, maple leaves, and Tudor roses for Newfoundland and Labrador, pine cones, oak leaves, and acorns for Nunavut, and maple leaves for British Columbia; on the west wall grapevines and apples for Saskatchewan, sunflowers, corn, and wheat for Alberta, and wheat and pine cones for Manitoba; and on the west wall sunflowers, wheat, and corn for Ontario, pine cones, oak leaves, and acorns for Canada, and Tudor roses for Quebec. The remaining territorial coats of arms are located in the southeast (Northwest Territories) and southwest (Yukon) corners. The gable springers all display the coats of arms of the provincial and territorial capitals, while the gable ramparts bear symbols of Canadas fauna.</p><br>
<p>The apex stones atop each central arch are carved into figures from Canadian life, two Inuit with huskies being found on the east wall, two heads each representing the merchant marine and agriculture on the south wall, two of Canadas First Nations people on the west wall, and a lumberjack and miner with a wheel of industry on the north wall. There were originally two renditions of the sovereigns Canadian arms, one each on the north and south walls of Confederation Hall; however, the latter was reworked in 2000 by Maurice Joanisse into the above-mentioned coat of arms of the newly created territory of Nunavut.</p><br>
<h3>Hall of Honour</h3><br>
<p>Extending from Confederation Hall is the Centre Block&#39;s north to south axis, running between the Library of Parliament and the Peace Tower, through the Hall of Honour, which serves as the route of the parades for both speakers of parliament, as well as where the lying in state segment of some state funerals takes place. It is a long, rib vaulted space of Tyndall limestone divided into five bays by superimposed double arcades of lancet arches atop clustered columns on pedestals. These bays are subdivided in half by single-story pointed arches on dark green syenite pillars, above which sit clerestory windows of cusped lights segmented by Missisquoi Black marble posts, though only those on the east of the hall are windows, while the others are blind.</p><br>
<p>Running the length of the hall and resting on corbels carved into early English foliage and other customary symbols, is a ribbed vault ceiling rising to bosses carved with Tudor roses and fleur-de-lis. The hall is bisected by small, vaulted corridors, the east one leading to a committee room, and the west to the old reading room; the latter is known as the Correspondents Entrance, as it is lined with bosses and label stops sculpted by Cléophas Soucy between 1949 and 1950 into the visages of ten notable parliamentary correspondents: Charles Bishop, Henri Bourassa, John Wesley Dafoe, Joseph Howe, Grattan OLeary, Frank Oliver, John Ross Robertson, Philip Dansken Ross, Joseph Israël Tarte, and Robert S. White. The north end of the hall is crossed on both levels by the Centre Block&#39;s north corridor, with an overlooking gallery lined by iron railings by Paul Beau.</p><br>
<p>The Hall of Honour was intended to be a gallery where statues of notable Canadians would be arranged in the niches along each side. That plan was later abandoned in favour of a more general purpose of commemorating the 1916 fire, as well as honouring those who participated in the Great War. The sculptures remain incomplete; only the north end, closest to the Library of Parliament, has completed carvings. The largest of these stone sculptures is a low relief memorial to nursing in Canada, depicting those care-givers who participated in World War I, while another work, Canada Remembers, pays tribute to those who were involved in the Second World War. Two other pieces mark the efforts of early nation-building, such as that donated by Canadians living in the United States and which celebrates the 60th anniversary of Confederation.</p><br>
<h3>Senate chamber</h3><br>
<p>In Centre Blocks east wing is the Senate chamber, in which are the thrones for the Canadian monarch and her consort, or for the federal viceroy and his or her consort, and from which the sovereign or the governor general gives the Speech from the Throne and grants Royal Assent to bills passed by parliament. The senators in the chamber who belong to the governing party sit to the Speaker of the Senates right and the opposition sit to the speaker&#39;s left.</p><br>
<p>The Senate chamber&#39;s overall colour is red, seen in the upholstery, carpeting, and draperies, and reflecting the colour scheme of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom; red was a more royal colour, associated with the Crown and hereditary peers. Capping the room is a gilt ceiling with deep octagonal coffers, each filled with heraldic symbols, including maple leaves, fleurs-de-lis, lions rampant, clàrsach, Welsh Dragons, and lions passant. This plane rests on six pairs and four single pilasters, each of which is capped by a caryatid, and between which are clerestory windows. Below the windows is a continuous architrave, broken only by baldachins at the base of each of the above pilasters.</p><br>
<p>On the chambers east and west walls are eight murals depicting scenes from the First World War. Painted in between 1916 and 1920, they were originally part of the more than 1,000 piece Canadian War Memorials Fund, founded by the Lord Beaverbrook, and were intended to hang in a specific memorial structure. But the project was never completed, and the works were stored at the National Gallery of Canada until, in 1921, parliament requested some of the collections oil paintings on loan for display in the Centre Block. The murals have remained in the Senate chamber ever since.</p><br>
<p>Edgar Bundys Landing of the First Canadian Division at Saint-Nazaire, 1915, depicts the first landing of Canadian troops in France, at Saint-Nazaire, led off the Novian by the pipe band of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, and watched by officers, troops, and townspeople. Algernon Talmage painted A Mobile Veterinary Unit in France, showing a scene on the Cambrai front, where a Canadian Mobile Veterinary Unit is taking wounded horses to an evacuating station. Railway Construction in France was painted by Leonard Richmond to show the construction of a railway by the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps, in the deepest trench in France. James Kerr-Lawson was commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund to create both Arras, the Dead City—which depicts the ruins of Arras Cathedral as they were in 1917—and The Cloth Hall, Ypres, a painting of the destroyed, 600-year-old Cloth Hall in Ypres. Claire Atwoods On Leave documents (as battlefield scenes were thought inappropriate subject matter for female artists) the home front activities of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at a YMCA canteen in one of Londons train stations as they await their train to the battlefront. The Watch on the Rhine (The Last Phase) was painted by Sir William Rothenstein to symbolically represent the defeat of Germany, with a British howitzer facing across the Rhine, and old and new Germany embodied in the ancient hills and factory chimney. And Sir George Clausens Returning to the Reconquered Land was painted to illustrate agricultural land behind the front lines in France and shows people returning to their destroyed homes following the armistice.</p><br>
<h3>Senate foyer</h3><br>
<p>To the Senates immediate south is that rooms foyer, a double height space surrounded by a double layered colonnade, the inside ring of attached shaft columns rising to the ceiling and the outside ring of rose coloured limestone columns supporting a second floor gallery. Within the stonework are sculpted depictions of important figures in pre-Confederation Canada, as well as self-portraits of the sculptors who fashioned the stone. A number are dedicated as the Sovereigns Arches, with corbels sculpted into depictions of Canadas monarchs; the latest addition being that of Queen Elizabeth II, unveiled on 9 December 2010. The entire ceiling is of a Tudor style stone tracery filled with stained glass depicting royal emblems, such as provincial coats of arms, as well as symbols of First Nations and the names of all the speakers of the Senate up until the ceiling&#39;s installation in 1920.</p><br>
<p>Above the exterior entrance into the foyer is a stained glass window commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Designed by Christopher Goodman and Angela Zissoff of Kelowna, British Columbia, with input from the Speaker of the Senate, Noël A. Kinsella, and the Canadian Secretary to the Queen and Usher of the Black Rod, Kevin MacLeod, and approved by the Queen, the window shows Elizabeth and Queen Victoria with their respective royal cyphers and renditions of the Centre Block during the reign of each monarch. A gift to the monarch from the Senate, it was constructed over six weeks from 500 pieces of machine made and mouth-blown glass from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. The Queen unveiled a model at Rideau Hall on 30 June 2011 and, after the finished piece&#39;s installation, the window was dedicated by Governor General David Johnston on 7 February 2012.</p><br>
<p>The foyer walls bear portraits of Canada&#39;s past and present monarchs; those of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria are originals; the portrait of Queen Victoria by John Partridge has notably been rescued four times from fire, while others were added after the new Centre Block was built.</p><br>
<h3>Commons chamber</h3><br>
<p>The building&#39;s western wing contains the House of Commons chamber, along with its antechamber and lobbies for the government and opposition, on the east and west sides of the main commons space. The doors to all are of white oak trimmed with hand-wrought iron.</p><br>
<p>The chamber is 21 metres long, 16 metres wide, and has seats for 320 members of parliament and 580 persons in the upper gallery that runs around the room&#39;s second level. The overall colour scheme is in green—visible in the carpeting, bench upholstery, draperies, paint within the gilded honeycomb cork plaster work of the cove, and the stretched linen canvas over the ceiling—and is reflective of the colour used in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since at least 1663. That canvas, sitting 14.7 m above the commons floor and designed in 1920 by the New York decorating firm Mack, Jenney and Tyler, is painted with the heraldic symbols of the Canadian, provincial, and territorial coats of arms, with medallions at the intersections of diagonal stencilled bands in an argyle pattern. Running below this, and above the cove, is a continuous gold leaf cornice created in 1919 by Ferdinand Anthony Leonard Cerracchio (1888-1964), which displays a row of gilt figures, broken at the peak of each pointed arch by cherubs holding a cartouche, and behind all of which runs a painted grapevine with Tudor roses.</p><br>
<p>On the floor, the opposing members benches are spaced 3.96 m apart on either side of the room, a measurement said to be equivalent to two swords length, harkening back to when English members of parliament carried swords into the chamber. Directly between, directly opposite the main door, on the chambers axis, is the speakers chair, made in 1921 by the English firm of Harry Hems as an exact replica of that in the British House of Commons. It is topped by a carved wood canopy bearing a rendition of the royal coat of arms of Canada sculpted in wood from the roof of the Westminster Hall, which was built in 1397; the whole was a gift from the British branch of what is today the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The chair has since been augmented with a hydraulic lift, lighting, writing surfaces, and, at the foot of the chair, a television screen and computer screen to aid the speaker in monitoring the process of the house. Behind the chair is a door that gives the speaker access to the speakers corridor, which links the commons chamber to the speakers chambers, and which is lined with portraits of past speakers of the House of Commons.</p><br>
<p>In the commons chamber&#39;s east and west walls are 12 windows topped by pointed arches with hood moulds terminated by pendant drops. The glazing within is stained glass, commissioned as a Centennial Project in 1967 by then Speaker of the House of Commons Lucien Lamoureux. Each window contains approximately 2,000 pieces of hand-blown glass—created in Ottawa by Russell C. Goodman using medieval techniques—arranged in a Decorated Gothic style pattern designed by R. Eleanor Milne. Divided into four sections by stone mullions, the upper parts contain geometrical tracery and provincial and territorial floral emblems amongst ferns; in the tracery at the head of the windows are symbols extracted from the coats of arms of the provinces and territories.</p><br>
<p>As with other areas of the Centre Block, the commons walls are enriched with shafts, blind tracery, friezes, and a sculpture programme. The room was the last space in the building to be carved, with sculptural work only beginning in the late 1950s and continuing intermittently for the following two decades; approximately 225 blocks of varying sizes still remain uncarved. Amongst the work done are three series of stone works: The British North America Act, a set of 12 high reliefs on the east and west walls of the chamber, carved between 1978 and 1985, and illustrating through symbols and narrative themes associated with the federal and provincial responsibilities laid out in the British North America Act; Evolution of Life, a series of 14 sculptures within the spandrels of the pier-arches at the north and south ends of the House of Commons, depicting Canadas palaeontological past and the evolution of humanity through philosophy, science, and the imagination; and Speakers and Clerks, comprising four heads carved on the jambs of the two doors on either side of the Speakers chair, depicting the speakers and clerks of the House of Commons at the time of the opening of both parliament buildings in 1867 and 1920, respectively.</p><br>
<h3>Commons foyer</h3><br>
<p>Directly south of the House of Commons is that room&#39;s foyer, a rectangular, two storey arcaded hall surrounded by clustered limestone piers and moulded arches that support an upper cloister lined with black marble posts. The foyer is approached from Confederation Hall by the South Corridor, which is lined with portraits of former prime ministers, as well as via an entrance hall that opens to the front of the Centre Block and which is separated from the foyer by a Rose Tavernelle marble balustrade. The floor of the commons foyer is of Missisquoi Boulder Grey marble with borders of Verde Antique serpentine.</p><br>
<p>The walls bear a series of 10 bas-relief panels showing 25,000 years of Canadas history and, directly above, is a stone tracery ceiling with soft green coloured glass infill manufactured by the N.T. Lyon Glass Company of Toronto. The ceilings appearance is similar to that found in the Senate foyer, except here the borders are of oak leaves, pine cones, and acorns; the octagonal panels are filled with Tudor roses and fleur-de-lis; the monogram HC (for House of Commons) is placed in all the small oblong panels; and the oval panels bear symbols of the various government departments amid sprigs of maple leaves: a steam crane represents Public Works; a beaver and bees represent trade and industry; a lighthouse and ship represent the naval services and a military ship at sea represents the overseas military; letters, stamps, and caduceus represent the Postmaster General; fish and an anchor represent the fisheries; wheat and a sickle represent agriculture; pounds and dollars represent finance; a crowned globe represents the Geological Survey; a moose and crown represents the Ministry of the Interior; a helmet and weapons represent militia and defence; crates and 33⅓% represent customs; a steam locomotive represents the railway; a scale and sword represents justice; picks, shovels, and a saw represent mining and forestry; and a crown, mace, and the granting of Royal Assent represent parliament itself.</p><br>
<h3>Railway Committee Room and Reading Room</h3><br>
<p>The Railway Committee Room is situated to the east of and accessed from the Hall of Honour. It is a double height space done in a Beaux-Arts style, with a heavily coffered ceiling and, above a one story high, ashlar stone base, pilasters on the walls—all the aforementioned painted in a cream colour—between which are panels of moss green fabric, except where there are windows on the east wall. In it hangs a reproduction of Robert Harris&#39; painting The Fathers of Confederation, as well as a rendition of the Canadian Royal Arms.</p><br>
<p>It is used by the official Opposition party for meetings, as well as by various committees. The current room dates from 1916 and replaced the same that existed in the 1866 Centre Block and was named for the 166 member Railway Committee that once met in it. That space also served as home to the Supreme Court of Canada from 1876 to 1889.</p><br>
<p>Directly across the Hall of Honour is the Reading Room, where the governing party&#39;s caucus meets.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>On 7 May 1859, the Department of Public Works for the Province of Canada sent a call for architects to submit proposals for the new parliament buildings to be erected on Barrack Hill. After the 298 submitted entries were narrowed down to three, Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head was approached to break the stalemate, and the winner was announced on 29 August 1859. The Centre Block, departmental buildings, and a new residence for the governor general were each awarded separately, and the team of Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones, under the pseudonym of Semper Paratus (Always Ready), won the prize for the first category with their Victorian High Gothic scheme with a formal, symmetrical front facing a quadrangle, and a more rustic, picturesque back facing the escarpment overlooking the Ottawa River.</p><br>
<p>The groundbreaking took place on 20 December 1859; however, workers soon hit bedrock, which, combined with a change to the design that saw the foundation moved to 17 feet deeper, meant costly blasting. Still, by 16 April of the following year, the first of the many coloured varieties of stone were laidNepean sandstone, red sandstone from Potsdam, New York, and a grey Ohio freestone. On 1 September 1860, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) arrived in Ottawa as part of his wider royal tour of the province, and laid the cornerstone of the growing Centre Block, with a luncheon on the grounds for the workers and their families. The Ottawa Citizen said on 6 June of the upcoming event:</p><br>
<p>By 1866, the United Province of Canada&#39;s parliament (Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada and Legislative Council of the Province of Canada) sat in its first and only session in the new building, by then dominated by the central Victoria Tower on the formal front, and with an articulated rear façade shaped along the curves of the adjacent cliff. The stonework contained carved mouldings, sculpted foliage, real and mythical animals, grotesques, and emblems of France, England, Ireland, and Scotland, spread across and over pointed windows in various groupings, turrets, towers, and finials, while the roof was of grey and green slate, topped with iron cresting painted china blue with gilt tips. Beautiful as the building was, the final tallies of the costs showed the original budget had been far surpassed, with the total price of the Centre Block being $1,373,633, at 1866 rates, when $1,093,500 had originally been allocated for the construction of the entire parliamentary precinct.</p><br>
<p>On 1 July 1867, the Dominion of Canada was formed, with Ottawa as the capital, and the houses of parliament the legislature, for a larger territory than for which they had originally been built; within four years, the Dominion stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. From 1906 to 1914, the Centre Block was expanded to suit the additional members of parliament and staff from the newly formed provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.</p><br>
<h3>Great fire</h3><br>
<p>A fire alarm was raised in the Centre Block on 3 February 1916, at 8:37 pm; something had been seen smouldering in a wastepaper basket in the Reading Room, but, as this was not terribly unusual, a clerk was called to assist. However, by that point, the fire had progressed beyond control in the wood-panelled and paper-filled room. The House of Commons was in session that evening, and was interrupted by the chief doorkeeper of the Commons calling for evacuation; some women in the gallery, unaware of the urgency, attempted to reclaim their fur coats from the coat check, and perished. Others, meanwhile, formed a human chain to carry furniture, files, and artwork out of the burning structure; the portrait of Queen Victoria in the commons chamber was rescued from flames for the second time. A half-hour after the fire started came the first of five explosions, and, shortly after midnight, the large bell in the Victoria Tower crashed to the ground; it had tolled each hour until midnight, when, after ringing eleven times, it ceased to function. When the fire crews thought that the inferno had been quelled, flames emerged in the Senate chamber. Within twelve hours, the building was completely destroyed, except for the Library of Parliament, spared by the closing of its heavy metal doors. Bowman Brown Law was the only member of parliament who died in the fire. The Cabinet immediately moved to meet at the nearby Château Laurier hotel while parliament itself relocated to the Victoria Memorial Museum Building.</p><br>
<p>With the fire occurring in the midst of the First World War, rumours began to circulate a German arsonist had started the blaze, the Toronto Globe asserting that while the official cause of the fire was reported as a carelessly left cigar, "unofficial Ottawa, including many Members of Parliament, declare the Hun hath done this thing."</p><br>
<h3>Rebuilding</h3><br>
<p>Reconstruction of the Centre Block began immediately, with a team of architects led by John A. Pearson and Jean-Omer Marchand overseeing a design much like the original, but expanded in size and pared down in ornament, more in keeping with the Beaux-Arts ethos of the time. By 1 September 1916, less than seven months after the fire, the original cornerstone was relaid by the then governor general, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, exactly 56 years after his brother, the future King Edward VII, had done the same. The new building was to be constructed with a steel frame, and an interior predominantly finished in stone, as well as with a more logical layout and clear exiting strategy.</p><br>
<p>During reconstruction the House of Commons and Senate sat at the Victoria Memorial Museum Building.</p><br>
<p>On 26 January 1920, the first sitting of parliament in the new Centre Block was opened by Governor General the Duke of Devonshire. However, the ceremony was also exceptional for the fact that it took place in the House of Commons, rather than the Senate, as the latter had not yet been constructed. Similarly, the corridors and main chambers were still devoid of their decorative carvings, which would be completed over the ensuing fifty years, and it was not until Dominion Day of 1927 that the Peace Tower was dedicated by Governor General the Viscount Willingdon.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history</h3><br>
<p>On 18 May 1966, Paul Joseph Chartier killed himself as he left a Centre Block washroom by accidentally detonating the bomb he had been preparing to throw onto the floor of the House of Commons from the public galleries to, as he put it in his notes, "exterminate as many members as possible." The building&#39;s security was heightened; however, tests of this by journalism students that November proved the precautions had been little improved. Later, in 1989, Charles Yacoub hijacked a Greyhound Lines bus and drove it up onto Parliament Hill.</p><br>
<p>By the 1990s, it was deemed necessary for an upgrade to be made to the Centre Blocks mechanical and electrical systems, which would necessitate a new plant for these amenities. To avoid disturbing the buildings heritage façades and spaces, as well as erecting new structures within the parliamentary precinct, the two storey, 50 m x 40 m square plant and new loading docks, called Centre Block Underground Services (CBUS), were constructed underground, seeing, in 1997, the removal of 25,000 m of rock from under and near the Centre Block.</p><br>
<p>Future upgrades will require extensive internal renovations, including both parliamentary chambers and associated areas. The West Block is scheduled to re-open in 2017. As this will cause a multi-year disruption, plans where made to enclose the East and West Blocks&#39; courtyards for use as temporary legislative chambers while the Centre Block is out of commission. Plans where later changed, and will now see the Senate chamber housed in the former Union Station, currently the Government Conference Centre, after renovations are completed to that building in 2018.</p><br>
<p>Several shooting incidents occurred on 22 October 2014 around Parliament Hill and in the Centre Block, primarily in the Hall of Honour. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, after fatally shooting a soldier mounting the guard of honour at the National War Memorial, made his way to Parliament Hill and to the Centre Block. There, after a shootout with parliamentary security, Zehaf-Bibeau was shot and killed just outside the Library of Parliament, by Canadian House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers.</p><br>
<h2>Public access</h2><br>
<p>About 355,000 visitors tour the Centre Block each year. Guided, free daily tours are conducted year-round by the Library of Parliament and include an opportunity to visit the Peace Tower. Visitors are able to "discover the history, functions and art of Canada’s Parliament", and curriculum-based tours are available to school groups. The federal Crown is constructing an underground welcome centre, expected to open in June 2017.</p><br>
<p>Narcondam is a small volcanic island located in the Andaman Sea.</p><br>
<p>The island&#39;s peak rises to 710 m above mean sea level, and it is formed of andesite. It is part of the Andaman Islands, the main body of which lie approximately 124 km to the west. The island is part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island is small, covering an area of approximately 6.8 square kilometres. It was classified as a dormant volcano by the Geological Survey of India.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name Narcondam could have been derived from the Tamil word naraka-kundam, meaning "a pit of Hell," although this may be the result of confusion between it and Barren Island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Until 1986 Burma claimed sovereignty over the island. This claim was given up on reaching agreement with India on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two nations in the Andaman Sea, the Coco channel and the Bay of Bengal.</p><br>
<p>There is a lighthouse on the slopes of narcondam, established 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island lies 256 km northeast from Port Blair. Further to the south west (approximately 150 km) lies the active volcano island of Barren Island. Narcondam Island is about 160 miles from Burma, and is almost 800 miles from Vishakhapatnam (part of the mainland of India).</p><br>
<p>It belongs to the East Volcano Islands. The island is small, having an area of 7.63 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>The island is largely forested.</p><br>
<p>The island is formed from a volcano, which had not known to have been active in recent times, until on June 8, 2005 there were reports of "mud and smoke" being ejected from the volcano. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is thought to have caused magma to move underground and may be related to the current activity. If the reports were accurate this would alter the scientific status of Narcondam to active.</p><br>
<p>Narcondam Island holds the easternmost point of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.</p><br>
<h3>Narcondam Mountain</h3><br>
<p>Narcondam Island&#39;s volcanic mountain, at 710 meters is the second tallest point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the first being Saddle Peak, North Andaman Island at 752 meters.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Narcondam Island belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, and is part of Diglipur Taluk. The village is near the Police station.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Ferry service is available from Diglipur. Normally ship is available once a week, only authorized by police.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>There is only 1 village.</p><br>
<p>According to the 2011 census of India, the Island has 1 household. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 100%.</p><br>
<p>The 16 residents (all supervisory police personnel) are all living in a single household on the northeast corner.</p><br>
<p>They harvest coconuts and bananas on a small plantation near the post.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<h3>Scuba diving at Narcondam</h3><br>
<p>The waters surrounding Narcondam Island are a diving destination. Narcondam&#39;s prime dive sites include rocky ridges and steep slopes like Chimneys, Ooh La La and Lighthouse Reef, where massive barrel sponges, huge gorgonian fans and lush soft corals thrive. Fish life can include Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and mantas, as well as occasional whitetip and gray reef sharks. Another special place is HQ Pinnacle, where a submerged rock formation acts as a magnet for dogtooth tuna and hundreds of bigeye trevally. For a more tranquil setting, several bays around the island offer gently sloping terrain populated with fields of hard corals and colorful reef fish.</p><br>
<p>The island is very remote and diving is accessible only via a live-aboard.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>Narcondam is a tiny volcanic island, not connected to land mass, terrestrial mammalian fauna is absent. However, Nicobar Flying Fox Pteropus faunulus and Narcondam Small Flying Fox Pteropus hypomelanus are the most common mammals on this island. Among reptiles, Andaman Dwarf Gecko Cnemaspis kandiana, widely distributed in Andaman and Malay Archipelago, is also found on Narcondam Island. The Andaman Day Gecko Phelsuma andamanense, is also restricted in distribution to the Andaman group (Daniel 2002). The Common Amphibious Sea Snake Laticauda laticaudata, confined to the Bay of Bengal and Nicobar Island, is seen here, while the Andaman Water Monitor Varanus salvator andamanensis is the only large predator on the island and is a threat to the Narcondam Hornbill, especially its young ones.</p><br>
<p>As Narcondam Island is remote and difficult to reach, there have been only eight visits by ornithologists to date: Osmaston (1905), Baker (1927), Abdulali (1971,1974), Hussain (1984), Vijayan and Sankaran, (2000) and Yahya and Zarri (2000, 2002a).</p><br>
<h3>Narcondam Island Wildlife Sanctuary</h3><br>
<p>Narcondam Island Wildlife Sanctuary is notified as a protected reserve by the government of India. It is also listed on the UNESCO&#39;s tentative Lists of World Heritage Sites. The island was notified as a sanctuary to protect and monitor the globally Threatened and highly endemic Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami, which is restricted to this tiny island.</p><br>
<h3>Narcondam hornbill</h3><br>
<p>The Narcondam hornbill is an endangered hornbill that is endemic to the island of Narcondam. This bird is said to have evolved separately from the wreathed hornbill found in North-East India.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>Narcondam Island is almost entirely covered with Evergreen and Moist Deciduous forest. Grassy slopes dominate the southern and southeast aspects of the hill (BirdLife International 2001). The island is covered with Tropical Evergreen forest, Semievergreen forest, Moist Deciduous forest, Littoral forest and Mangrove forest (Pande et al. 1991). The island bears old, dead and decaying trees, interlaced with thorny creepers and luxuriantly flowering tall trees (Yahya and Zarri 2002a). The flora on the higher reaches of the hill is mostly evergreen and consists of Dipterocarpus, Sideroxylon and Ficus trees. However, some deciduous species (Bombax insigne) are also present. The vegetation towards the summit is mostly Moist Evergreen with several epiphytes. The lower hills following the shoreline have both deciduous and evergreen trees such as Terminalia catappa, T. bialata and Caryota mitis. The shoreline has some introduced species such as coconut and banana.</p><br>
<h2>Facilities</h2><br>
<h3>Radar station</h3><br>
<p>The Indian Coast Guard proposed the construction of a coastal surveillance radar installation on Narcondum Island and had requested for the release of 0.64 ha of forest area for the purpose. This was turned down by the MOEF of UPA govt as it would endanger the population of endemic hornbills while other alternative sites existed for the siting of the radar.</p><br>
<p>As of 10 June 2014, MOEF has given clearance for the Radar station. Union minister for environment and forests, Prakash Javadekar gave the approval.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Spy Cave  is located near Spy in the municipality of Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, province of Namur, Belgium above the left bank of the Orneau River. Classified as a premier Heritage site of the Walloon Region, the location ranks among the most significant paleolithic sites in Europe. The cave consists of numerous small chambers and corridors.</p><br>
<h2>Excavations</h2><br>
<p>Since the first amateur investigations during the late 19th century numerous amateur and professional archaeologists have carried out excavations and removed all sediment deposits of the cave. In 1886 Neanderthal fossils of excellent quality were discovered, which caused the 19th century scientific community to finally exact a paradigm shift and recognize the existing fossils Engis 2 and Neanderthal 1 and embrace the notion of the mutability of species in an evolutionary context. The excavation was conducted by Liège, archaeologist Marcel de Puydt and geologist Max Lohest. Paleontologist and zoologist Julien Fraipont published the specimen description in the American Anthropologist journal.</p><br>
<p>The assemblages of the oldest excavations have been mixed, that makes the interpretation of the palaeoenvironment difficult. In addition publications of de Puydt, Lohest and Fraipoint disagree on the number of layers of knapped flints. Nonetheless, it is assumed that there existed seven, possibly more, Paleolithic occupation sequences, three are attributed to Neanderthals and the Mousterian culture and four to Modern human Upper Paleolithic presence.</p><br>
<p>The hominid skeletons discovered during the first excavations have been named Spy I, a female, and Spy 2, a young male. These were dated to around 36,000 years BP (34,000 BC), although a Bayesian analysis in 2014 concluded that they were probably more than 40,000 years old. The identification of the remains of a Neanderthal child, Spy VI, was published in 2010. The identification was made from an analysis of the mandibular remains and the child is thought to have died at about 18 months, "making the Spy Neandertal</p><br>
<p>remains the youngest ever directly dated in northwest Europe." A paper in Anthropologica et Præhistorica states that the original excavators at Spy did not believe that the remains were deliberately buried in graves but that this hypothesis is "now</p><br>
<p>widely accepted".</p><br>
<p>Almost 12,000 faunal remains of the Pleistocene were discovered, including mammoth, horse, cave hyena, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, and cave bear bones.</p><br>
<h2>Mammoth hunting</h2><br>
<p>All levels contained mammoth remains, including an unusual (compared to other sites) number of molars. It has been suggested that the Neanderthal occupants brought mammoth heads to the site and ate the brains. Because many of the molars were unworn, these would have been very young or newborn calves, "killed in early spring, when plant food would not yet have been available."</p><br>
<h2>Anatomically modern humans</h2><br>
<p>Evidence of occupation by Upper Paleolithic anatomically modern humans has also been found at Spy. A report published in 2013 states that "Based on cut-marked bones, remains with ochre traces and an Aurignacian spear point, it seems that AMH visited Spy at least three times: at around 34,500 BP, 33,000 BP and 26,000 BP." Pendants and perforated beads made from mammoth ivory, presumably by modern humans, were found in the cave.</p><br>
<p>Abercrombie River, a perennial river that is part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central west of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The river rises to the east of the village of Mount Werong and generally flows westward towards its confluence with the Lachlan River at Wyangala Dam near Cowra. The river flows through freehold land as well as the Abercrombie River National Park, and provides habitat for platypus and rakali, dropping 758 m over its course of 130 km.</p><br>
<p>The Abercrombie River is the furthest east of the inland flowing rivers.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The original inhabitants of the land alongside the river were Australian Aborigines of the Wiradjuri or Gundungara clans, which may have used the river as a trading route.</p><br>
<p>The first European to discover the watercourse was explorer Charles Throsby on 5 May 1819, during an expedition from Sydney to the central west of New South Wales. The river was named by Commissioner John Thomas Bigge on 22 October 1820.</p><br>
<p>Alluvial gold was discovered in and along the river in 1851, inspiring a minor gold rush hampered by the ruggedness of the terrain and the periodic depths of the waterway. Early miners recovered up to 3 oz of gold a day along the river, and by 1862 between forty and fifty mining parties were at work at Milburne Creek, a minor tributary of the Abercrombie.</p><br>
<p>The Goulburn-Oberon Road crosses the Abercrombie River in the steep-sided Abercrombie Gorge.</p><br>
<p>Lost Lagoon is an artificial, captive 16.6-hectare  body of water, west of Georgia Street, near the entrance to Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada. Surrounding the lake is a 1.75 km trail. The lake features a lit fountain that was erected by Robert Harold Williams to commemorate the city&#39;s golden jubilee. It is a nesting ground to many species of birds, including non-native mute swan , Canada geese, numerous species of ducks such as mallard ducks and great blue herons. Also many turtles are usually resident on the northern shore.</p><br>
<h2>Naming and history</h2><br>
<p>Native food gatherers used the low tide mudflats as a source for clams, and a midden on the north side indicates that a large dwelling once stood there. In the Squamish language, the name is Chekxwa7lech, meaning "gets dry at times". Settlers also built cabins around the lake, which were all removed between 1913 and 1916 during construction of the causeway. The lake was created in 1916 by the construction of the Stanley Park causeway; until then, Lost Lagoon was a shallow part of Coal Harbour, which itself is an extension of Burrard Inlet.</p><br>
<p>The name for Lost Lagoon comes from a poem written by Pauline Johnson, who later explained her inspiration:</p><br>
<p>The lake was officially named Lost Lagoon in 1922 by the park board, long after Johnson&#39;s death and, ironically, after the lagoon had been permanently lost after becoming landlocked.</p><br>
<h2>Development</h2><br>
<p>When the causeway was first proposed in 1909, an intense public debate took place over the fate of the basin. As with most of the early controversies concerning the use of Stanley Park, organized labour was pitted against the more upper and middle class proponents of the City Beautiful movement. Trade union representatives argued that the majority working class population was in need of recreational facilities, while their opponents maintained that more aesthetic or ethereal considerations should take precedence in park development. The Vancouver Trades and Labour Council was adamantly opposed to the idea of an artificial lake, and argued for it to instead be filled in for use as a sports field. The park board retained the services of T. Mawson and Associates, an architectural landscaping firm that had designed the parks zoo and many other facilities in Stanley Park. The proposal the board settled on featured an artificial lake with a sports stadium on the northwest side and a large museum on the southwest shore. The $800,000 price tag, however, proved too steep for the boards budget, and the non-lake parts of the proposal were quashed.</p><br>
<p>The next phase in the lake&#39;s development came in 1929, when the saltwater pipes entering from Coal Harbour were shut off, turning it into a freshwater lake. The BC Fish and Game Protection Association was given permission to stock the lake with trout. The Stanley Park Flyfishing Association was formed, and charged members to fish in the lake, while the park board profited from the canoe and boat rentals. This came to an end in 1938 when the walkway around the lake was constructed and the area declared a bird sanctuary. Civic budgets were significantly reduced during the depression, but the park board benefited from the free labour of relief recipients, who were used to landscape Lost Lagoon.</p><br>
<p>The next controversy surrounding the lake followed the proposal for a fountain to be erected in the lake to coincide with the citys Golden Jubilee anniversary celebrations in 1936. For the mayor, it would be "a miracle of engineering," with the spray of water lit by virtually "limitless combinations" of colour. The public, in contrast, were not impressed by the proposal. Its $33,019.96 price tag was considered extremely frivolous in the midst of an economic crisis. As written in The Sunday Sun Edition of the Vancouver Sun Newspaper, Saturday, August 8. 1936. The lead story in the Magazine section is; SECRETS OF THE FOUNTAIN. It was the conception and idea of then, Chief Electrical Engineer, Robert Harold Williams with Hume and Rumble Ltd. electrical contractors. R.Harold Williams designed and supervised the erection of the Vancouvers Golden Jubilee fountain. After a business trip to Los Angeles he saw a fountain and thought this would be a great gift for the city for their up and coming birthday, Golden Jubilee celebration. To build the fountain, Lost Lagoon was drained. Seventy piles were driven into the mud. On these a concrete mat was laid. The fountain was built upon this mat. The work was of necessity rushed; it was done in a month. "The fountain is worthy of all the traditions of art, worthy of Vancouvers Golden Jubilee, and it will be a permanent, decorative joy in Stanley Park". "When operating, it is like a symphony concert, in motion and color instead of music, says Harold Williams, engineer, of Hume & Rumble Ltd., under whose personal supervision the work has been done." Vancouvers Jubilee Committee and private citizens who contributed are to be commended on their work in pushing for this beautiful fountain, which is sure to be one of the major attractions during the Golden Jubilee celebration. "We&#39;ve had to hurry," says Mr. Williams," in that time 285 tons of cement have been utilized and all the special equipment was built." All equipment was built in Canada and the pumps were constructed in Vancouver. All union labor was employed. It was restored for Expo in 1986.</p><br>
<p>Lost Lagoon is a popular place for park users for strolling the perimeter trail and bird watching. On the southeast corner of the lake is the Lost Lagoon, an old boathouse that is now an interpretive centre for the Stanley Park Ecology Society. While rare in recent decades, Lost Lagoon can freeze during a cold spell, permitting public ice skating and ice hockey.</p><br>
<p>The Montezuma Castle is a 90,000 ft&sup2, 400 room Queen Anne-style hotel building erected just northwest of the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1886 . The current castle is actually the third on the site, the first two  were the first buildings in New Mexico to have electric lighting, and they both burned down.</p><br>
<h2>History as Hotel</h2><br>
<p>The castle was constructed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad as a luxury hotel, capitalizing on the natural hot springs on the site. These were widely thought to ease the suffering of people with tuberculosis, "chronic rheumatism, gout, biliary, and renal calculi." The nearby Gallinas Creek also provided excellent trout fishing. Guests included Theodore Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Jesse James, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. "The visitors to the Hot Springs represent every part of the continent of America, and nearly every tourist from abroad who crosses the continent by the southerly route stops there for a time."</p><br>
<p>In addition to the natural recreation available in Montezuma, the hotel provided bowling alleys and billiard rooms. The building was designed and construction was overseen by the Chicago architecture firm Burnham and Root.</p><br>
<p>It operated as a hotel until October 31, 1903. The building was used as a training center by Jim Flynn when he was preparing for his 1912 boxing match with Jack Johnson (the fight was held in nearby Las Vegas, New Mexico). The complex was briefly owned by the YMCA, then operated as a Baptist college from 1922 until 1931. The Southern Baptist Church sold it to the Catholic Church in 1937, and it was operated as a seminary for Mexican Jesuits until 1972. The building then sat empty for a decade and was subject to significant vandalism and decay. The Jesuits made a little money renting the building out as the set for the low budget horror movie The Evil in 1978.</p><br>
<h2>United World College</h2><br>
<p>In 1981, the castle and the surrounding 100 acres were purchased by industrialist and philanthropist Armand Hammer for use as a United World College. However, the building required extensive repairs before it could be used as a new college facility. Unfortunately, funds were unavailable at the time to make these repairs possible. However, in 1997, it was placed on the list of Americas Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, along with landmarks like Ellis Island. In 2000 and 2001, the school invested over $10.5 million into restoring the building, and it has won awards as one of the great historical restorations in the United States. It is also the first historic property west of the Mississippi to be designated one of "Americas Treasures" by the White House Millennium Council.</p><br>
<p>Today, the Montezuma Castle, or Davis International Center as it is now known, houses multiple college facilities including the school dining hall, guest and dorm rooms, offices, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and a student center complete with a store, laundry rooms, pool tables, a dance space, and a kitchen.</p><br>
<p>The building is not open to the public except when the Armand Hammer United World College, also known as UWC-USA, offers student-led tours of the building on pre-scheduled dates. A list of these dates can be found on the college&#39;s website</p><br>
<p>Windermere Island is a small island located in The Bahamas. It is about five and a half miles long, and is noted for its beaches and its celebrity visitors, who use it as a private retreat. The island is connected to the larger island of Eleuthera by a short bridge, which is protected by a guardhouse. The bridge was built by Lord Trefgarne; who was a former owner of the Island. The adjoining waters and flats of Savannah Sound are considered to be a premier bonefishing location, and Windermere&#39;s five-mile long beach is protected by a five-mile long reef which is rich in fish and underwater flora.</p><br>
<p>It is also located in the same bay as Camp Bahamas. If you walk along the beach you will come across hundreds of hermit crabs and countless conch sells. These shells are absolutely beautiful and a great souvenir. There are also many small sand crabs and whale sharks (very friendly; these are the kind of sharks you can swim with at Atlantis).</p><br>
<p>The island is populated with private homes and the legendary Windermere Island Club. The http://www.windermereislandclub.com Windermere Island Club is under new ownership in the process of revitalisation. Diana Princess of Wales and Prince Charles spent their 1981 honeymoon on the island, staying at Provender, and enjoyed the beach in Savannah Sound, from where a member of the paparazzi snapped the infamous picture of the pregnant Princess in a swimsuit. Famous residents have included Jacques-Yves Cousteau, The Duke and Duchess of Abercorn (James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn), Toni Braxton, India Hicks, and The Johnson Family (Lyndon B. Johnson). Members of the British royal family visit the island regularly, often arriving by private Helicopter. In April 2008, the island was the setting for the wedding of singer Mariah Carey to comedian Nick Cannon, when they were married at her private residence on the island.</p><br>
<p>Mount Huckle is a mainly ice-covered mountain, 2,500 m high, near the northern end of the Douglas Range in eastern Alexander Island, Antarctica. It rises 7 mi south-southeast of Mount Spivey on the west side of Toynbee Glacier and is 9 mi inland from George VI Sound. Mount Huckle is the fourth highest mountain of Alexander Island, proceeded by Mount Cupola and succeeded by Mount Paris in the nearby Rouen Mountains.</p><br>
<p>The mountain was possibly first seen in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, but not recognized as part of Alexander Island. It was photographed from the air in 1936–37 by the British Graham Land Expedition under John Riddoch Rymill, and surveyed from the ground in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS). The mountain was named after John Sydney Rodney Huckle, a general assistant at Stonington Island, who aided in the FIDS survey of the west side of George VI Sound in 1949.</p><br>
<p>Voula  is a town and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 8.787 km. Grigoris Kasidokostas is the mayor, elected at 14 November 2010 for the new municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Voula is a southern suburb of Athens, 16 km south of the city centre. It is located on the Saronic Gulf coast, at the southwestern foot of the Hymettus mountain. Adjacent coast towns are Glyfada to the northwest and Vouliagmeni to the south. The Greek National Road 91 (Athens - Sounio) passes through Voula. One of the largest hospitals in the Athens conurbation, "Asklipieio", lies in the northern part of Voula. It is served by the southern terminus of the Athens Tram lines 3 and 5, Asklipieio Voulas.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>Voula hosts the basketball club Proteas Voulas, founded in 1980.</p><br>
<p>Brown Mountain is a low-lying ridge, approximately 1.5 miles long, in the Pisgah National Forest near Morganton, North Carolina, on the border of Burke and Caldwell Counties.</p><br>
<p>For perhaps hundreds of years, and since at least the early 20th century, mysterious illuminations known as the Brown Mountain Lights have been seen there.</p><br>
<p>The lights are small balls that appear irregularly over Brown Mountain. There are hundreds of eyewitness accounts of the lights, and they have merited two investigations by the United States Geological Society. It is known that they have been seen by residents of the surrounding area since at least the 19th century, but the Cherokee Native Americans of the area may have been seeing the lights as early as the 13th century.</p><br>
<p>When present, the Brown Mountain lights can be seen from as far away as Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and have been reported to rise to a fair height above the ridge, before disappearing in a silent explosion like a Roman candle. The lights are best seen from Wiseman&#39;s view or Linville Falls.</p><br>
<p>Emory Peak, located in Big Bend National Park, is the highest peak in the Chisos Mountains. and the highest in Brewster County. The peak is named for William H. Emory, the chief surveyor of the USA Boundary Survey team of 1852. From the Chisos Basin the peak appears to be a minor ridge, while the summit of Casa Grande, one mile closer, seems to be much taller. From the west, Emory Peak is clearly visible as a point slightly higher than most of the mountain range.</p><br>
<p>The peak can be reached by a moderate hike on a well-marked path across steep rocky terrain with an elevation gain of approximately 2,500 ft. The Emory Peak Trail is about 9 mi long. Once at the base there is a semi-technical rock scramble to navigate before reaching the summit. No gear is needed for this climb although hikers should take great care. High-desert flora and fauna including alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana), pinyon pine (Pinus cembroides), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.), Mexican jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi), sotol (Dasylirion leiophyllum), and Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) may be seen along the trail. There are signs warning of mountain lions and bears.</p><br>
<p>The view from the top takes in most of the northern section of the park and a good portion of the Chisos range to the south. One surprise at the top, during the right season, is the population of lady bugs on the summit. There are solar panels, radio transmission equipment, and antennae at the top.</p><br>
<p>The Beverly Wilshire Hotel is a historic luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, it was completed in 1928. It has been used as a shooting location for films and television series. Guests have included US presidents and celebrities.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The hotel is located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard on the east side of South Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The hotel was constructed by real estate developer Walter G. McCarty on the site of the former Beverly Hills Speedway. It was completed in 1928 (when the city had fewer than 18,000 residents), and was then known as the "Beverly Wilshire Apartment Hotel". The E-shaped structure is built of a Tuscan stone and Carrara marble in the Italian Renaissance architecture style.</p><br>
<p>Renamed the Beverly Wilshire Hotel by new owners, it was renovated with a ballroom in the 1940s to accommodate the popular big bands of the day. An Olympic-sized swimming pool was built and championship tennis courts were added, with tennis champion Pancho Gonzalez as tennis director.</p><br>
<p>The hotel changed hands in 1958 and again in 1961, when it was purchased by a group of investors headed by Hernando Courtright.</p><br>
<p>The singer Elvis Presley and later the actor Warren Beatty lived several years in the hotel. It was also the home of John Lennon, when he was separated for several months from his wife Yoko Ono.</p><br>
<p>The American socialite and Woolworth department store heiress Barbara Hutton spent her last years in near poverty and poor health in the hotel and died there in May 1979.</p><br>
<p>Acquired by Regent International Hotels in 1985, the 395-room luxury hotel has been managed by the Four Seasons Hotel since 1992.</p><br>
<p>Famous guests have included, among many others, USA President Barack Obama, the Emperor of Japan Hirohito, the Dalai Lama and Sadruddin Aga Khan, as well as the musicians Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, and actors Michael Caine, Michael Douglas, Farrah Fawcett, Bette Midler, Dustin Hoffman, Anjelica Huston, Robert Pattinson, Walter Matthau and Al Pacino.</p><br>
<p>The Beverly Wilshire was the primary filming location for the 1990 movie Pretty Woman.</p><br>
<p>The Beverly Wilshire was a common filming location for HBO&#39;s Entourage television series, with cast and crew filming there at least three times per season when it was produced from 2004 until 2011.</p><br>
<p>Since 2006, Wolfgang Puck has operated a restaurant, Cut, in the hotel.</p><br>
