Things I Learned This Summer (2004)

Things I Learned This Summer (2004) (and will use to develop problems for my class)
by David Pleacher

The Annual Rainfall in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park is 142 inches.
The Annual Rainfall in Seattle, Washington is only 34 inches.
The Annual Rainfall in Chicago is 34 inches.
The Annual Rainfall in Phoenix is 7 inches.
The Annual Rainfall in Winchester, Virginia is 38.4 inches.

The Annual precipitation at Mt. Rainier is 140 inches.
In 1972, the world record for annual snowfall was set at Mt. Rainier -- 1,122 inches!
The summit of Mt. Olympus receives 200 inches of precipitation per year.

The height of the Space Needle is 524 feet compared to 555 feet for the Washington Monument.

It takes 50 to 60 years to grow and harvest a forest.

The highest point in Olympic National Park is Mt. Olympus at 7,965 feet (but it rises from sea level!).
The highest point in Mt. Rainier National Park is Mt. Rainier at 14,410 feet.
The highest point in North Cascades National Park is 9,127 feet.
The highest point on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park is Skyland at 3,680 feet.

There are one million millionaires in the world, and 100 of them are at Microsoft.

The percentage of Americans who have at least a Bachelor's Degree by racial / ethnic group:
Asian: 49.8%
Non-Hispanic White: 30%
Black: 17.3%
Hispanic: 11.4%

The chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 9,100.
The odds of getting audited on your tax return are 1 in 100.

The largest building in the world (by volume) is the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington.
It contains 472,000,000 cubic feet.
It has 4,300,000 square feet of floor space.
It is 114 feet 2 inches tall.
The perimeter of the building is 2.2 miles.
There are 98.3 acres under one roof.
It would hold 75 NFL football fields or 911 NBA basketball courts.
It could house 2,142 average size homes (2,000 square feet).

In Mount Rainier, one of the easy hiking trails is Trail of the Shadows in Longmire.
It is .7 miles round-trip and the average hiking time is 30 minutes.

In Mount Rainier, there are several moderate hiking trails near Longmire and Cougar Rock:
Carter Falls/Madcap Falls:
2.2 miles round-trip; 500' elevation gain; average hiking time: 2 hours.
Rampart Ridge:
4.6 mile loop; 1,339' elevation gain; average hiking time: 2.5 hours.

In Mount Rainier, there are several strenuous hiking trails near Longmire and Cougar Rock:
Comet Falls and Van Trump Park:
5.6 miles round-trip; 2,200' elevation gain; average hiking time: 4 hours.
Wonderland Trail to Indian Henry's:
6.7 miles one way ; 2,400' elevation gain; average hiking time: 4 hours.
Wonderland Trail to Paradise:
6 miles one way; 2,700' elevation gain; average hiking time: 3 hours.
Eagle Peak Saddle:
7.2 miles round trip; 2,955' elevation gain; average hiking time: 5 hours.

The city of Winchester, Virginia, population 24,513, hosts more than seventeen times the normal amount of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings for a city its size.
A 25,000-population city averages three or four A.A. meetings and one or two N.A. meetings per week. Winchester has seventy-eight A.A. meetings and thirty-five N.A. meetings every week!

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher