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mtn970 t1_j2l7ac3 wrote

Reply to comment by uber_snotling in Does cold temperature make vistas more 'crisp' looking? by colorado_hick

This is the key u/colorado_hick. Whether it’s 120* in AZ or -20* in CO, the western US has clarity from low humidity. Growing up in New England, the humidity obscures a lot of detail at a distance.

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dcgrey t1_j2mgn76 wrote

Though it's also considered an aesthetic feature, the "breathing" of Appalachian-range mountains in the morning as the sun heats overnight dew and obscures the view with rising fog at each ridge. While many find it beautiful, I've met a couple western-U.S. natives who found it almost claustrophobic.

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[deleted] t1_j2n6iye wrote

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RVA_RVA t1_j2or55q wrote

East coaster here. I went out to the west coast to hike the PCT some years ago. I felt uneasy the entire time. Low humidity, strong wind, and completely exposed was a mixture we don't have over here. I'm used to the safety of the forest.

I loved it out there, I've been back a bunch of times to hike. I just have never been able to shake the uneasy feeling if being so exposed.

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dcgrey t1_j2owanp wrote

It's definitely unsettling to see a mountain in the distance that's an hour drive away, as one would in parts of Colorado. Imagine getting off a boat in Portland, Maine, and having someone say "And if you glance to the west there, those are the White Mountains over in New Hampshire."

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MadMagilla5113 t1_j2p5eml wrote

Lol, I live in the Seattle Area, you don’t have to glance in order to see mountains. You have the Cascades to the East and The Olympics to the West and they’re both more than an hour away.

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91901bbaa13d40128f7d t1_j2wopog wrote

Take the victoria clipper north sometime and stand on the rear deck watching Mount Rainier. As you leave Seattle, you see the city recede into a dot, but the mountain behind it doesn't appear to get any smaller. It's wild.

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NoMalarkyZone t1_j2oz3fc wrote

Do the Knife Edge trail up Mt Katahdin in Maine for a throwback.

We did section J a few years back, Katahdin has areas that are similar up knife edge due to its prominence.

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[deleted] t1_j2n6ea5 wrote

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0ne_Winged_Angel t1_j2nchg5 wrote

Until nature doubled down on the restricted visibility and made the Blue Ridge mountains. It’s about the only thing that comes close in terms of spectacular.

But otherwise you’re absolutely right. I think growing up in KY is part of why things like the Grand Canyon or the ocean didn't register as mind blowing as they really are. I could never see a 10 mile distance, and even if I could, anything as clear as the GC was would’ve been much closer. It wasn’t till I did an internship in NM that it really sank in. Going east on 40 from Albuquerque, theres a point near Sedillo where you exit the Sandias and can see the road stretched out in front of you till the next hill. I guessed it was about a mile and a half away, but it was actually four and a quarter.

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PlainTrain t1_j2njf97 wrote

I was on Amtrak’s Empire Builder westbound in Montana. Off in the distance, I could see the mountains of Glacier National Park. I thought they were maybe 30 miles away. They were 150.

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warriorscot t1_j2p7zjt wrote

The weirdos, but what can you expect when they walk around in a place where you are clearly at risk of falling off the Earth.

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some_random_noob t1_j2oeize wrote

the north east is run on crappy servers so we need water vapor to reduce draw distances or we get frame lag, the south west has much better servers so they get the full draw distance without the need for performance improvements granted by the fog.

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TheGrandExquisitor t1_j2ohf84 wrote

Except in the winter when you get those cold days right after a Nor'easter and can see all the way Boston to Providence...

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funguyshroom t1_j2pgypr wrote

Doesn't 120° cause heavy shimmering regardless of humidity?

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JustaCucumber t1_j35nnk2 wrote

Is this why the sky in places like Montana looks so much bigger than it does out East?

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