View Seattle from the air with Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

I love seeing Seattle from the air, which is why when this dropped in my inbox I had to share it. The Royal Geographic Society has a website that lets you explore a flight path from the air and their most recent flight path is Denver to Seattle. There are some great shots from the ground to 30,000 feet which lets you explore what is actually going on in a local, regional, and macro context. Plus, the website is a community project: You can submit your own photos as part of the story.

One of my favorite places in Seattle: West Seattle. Photo by Gerald Hawkins via RGS

Photo by walla2chick via RGS

Photo by Toddalert via RGS

Photo by Carfull via RGS

Press Release after the Break:

View Seattle from the air with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)’s Hidden Journeys

The Hidden Journeys Project aims to enliven the flying experience and transform it into a fascinating exploration of the people, places and environments thousands of metres below by providing inspiring information to air travellers about the parts of the world they fly over (www.hiddenjourneys.co.uk).

The Society, one of the world’s leading geographical organisations, has created each interactive flight path to provide the user with the knowledge to learn about and interact with some of the most interesting parts of their journey, not just their destination. The website’s unique functions also allow visitors to view the flight paths at three different altitudes, with each level offering a new perspective on the Earth below.

The flight paths are supported by striking images and maps from the Society’s world-renowned Collections, individual contributors and other online resources such as NASA and Flickr. Keen travellers are encouraged to upload their own pictures to the website to help build an even richer picture.

The latest guide to be released explores the mountainous landscape that lies between Denver and Seattle, including the rugged Wind River Range in Wyoming; Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Salmon River Range in Idaho, the picturesque Palouse Region and the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

The route between the two 19^th century boomtowns of Denver and Seattle follows the path of hundreds of thousands of emigrants who battled their way through the mountainous northwest quarter of the contiguous United States to settle in the West.

As you fly over several sub-ranges of the Rockies, learn how the power of glaciers, rivers and the wind have shaped these mountains into some of the highest peaks in the continent. See the classic cones of the Cascade Mountains as you descend towards Seattle, and discover the influence these active volcanoes have on the Pacific Northwest, from the impact of devastating eruptions to the ash-fall deposits that have created the most productive farming region in the country.

Amongst the spectacular yet hostile landscapes there are pockets of humanity, where Native Americans thrived for ten thousand years and modern cities have sprung up at the feet of mountains and along the lengths of rivers. A plethora of natural resources drew settlers here, from precious metals and timber that fuelled the growth of boomtowns to present-day mining of chemicals and fossil fuels that are increasingly valuable as 21^st century commodities.

[via HiddenJourneys & Royal Geographical Society with IBG]