Can you see Montreal from Lyon?

[Neil]

I'm planning on hiking Lyon Mtn. soon and was wondering if you can see the St-Joseph Oratory on Montreal's Mount Royal from the summit.

 

[Tom Rankin]

I'm planning on hiking Lyon Mtn. soon and was wondering if you can see the St-Joseph Oratory on Montreal's Mount Royal from the summit.

We're planning to go to Lyon the 14th of July (it's a Thursday), on our way to Burlington for the Vermont Brewers Festival. We have a long drive to get there, so we won't get an early start, but it's only a 5 mile round trip. Are you interested in joining us? Are you working on the firetower list?

This reminds me, I started a thread on VBF a while ago, time to check to see if anyone wants to join us at the festival.

Almost forgot, the theoretical sight distance from Lyon is about 75 miles. Not sure if the fire tower is climbable, but the "Views From on High" book says you can see the skyscrapers of Montreal on a clear day.

 

[prino]

Down town Skyscrapers and St Josephs Oratory can be seen quite easily from the top of Lyon on a clear day.
The office where I used to work in St.Laurent looked out at Lyon, which is visible most days.

The trail up from the east via the old downhill ski center was the most popular route up. You can also climb the Western peak form the town of Lyon Mountain. The last time I climbed it (about 10 years ago) someone had started to blaze a trail between the two summits. I wonder if it ever got completed.

 

[Neil]

We're planning to go to Lyon the 14th of July (it's a Thursday), on our way to Burlington for the Vermont Brewers Festival. We have a long drive to get there, so we won't get an early start, but it's only a 5 mile round trip. Are you interested in joining us? Are you working on the firetower list?

No, I'm just getting started on the ADK hundred Highest and Lyon intrigues me due to the views into Canada. (I didn't know that you could see downtown Montreal) Thanks for the invite re: 07-14. It turns out I can do Thursdays. I'll keep a close eye on the forecast because I want to do this one on as clear a day as possible.

Almost forgot, the theoretical sight distance from Lyon is about 75 miles.

Is there some sort of formula for that? ie. for every hundred feet of elevation the horizon is so many miles further away?

 

[Peakbagr]

Climbed Lyon separately as there was no visible route between Lyon and its sister peak, Averill. The woods are thick and there is a false path that goes a short way and then peters out.
I was alone and got a `pm start up Lyon, and may have pushed across to Averill if I'd had a companion.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Is there some sort of formula for that? ie. for every hundred feet of elevation the horizon is so many miles further away?

There was another thread on this a while back. The short answer is :

distance = Sqrt(elevation*1.5)

where elevation is in feet and distance is in miles.

The long answer is here:

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5340&highlight=square+root

(Ok, now you owe me 2 rep points! )

 

[Rivet]

How does the visibility given in weather forecasts factor into this?

For example today in Albany, visibility= 16.09 mi

 

[TEO]

...Not sure if the fire tower is climbable...

It is a bit rickity, but as of late November 2004, when I was up there, it was climable.

 

[Tom Rankin]

How does the visibility given in weather forecasts factor into this?

For example today in Albany, visibility= 16.09 mi

That's mighty precise!

I think they use humidity to determine visibility. The temp may be factored in too. The formula I quoted is best case, based on the curve of the earth. See the other thread for more details...