2009-07-27 47 9
| Mon 27 Jul 2009 in 47,9: 47.9943346, 9.4974004 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Contents
Location
Outside the village of Bogenweiler near Bad Saulgau.
Features at hash: Corn plants, dirt, sun.
Participants
Expedition
Sankt Gallen, Switzerland - this graticule was about to become my waterloo. Twice I had gone there, twice it was a fine day, and there was a lot to see along the way, but also - twice the meadow the hash was in was unexpectedly fenced, and twice I didn't reach the point but just scored another No trespassing consolation prize.
There was enough planning time, and after I had found that it should be possible to visit the hash, some other sights at Bad Saulgau and Ulm, and attend a (non-geohashing) meetup at Stuttgart in the evening, all in one roundtrip, all on one ticket - I decided to go. The chance that the hash was accessible was good enough.
I left home just in time to catch the 9:00 train, which is the first one the discount tickets are valid on, and went directly to Bad Saulgau. From the station it would be about three km walking to hash village, but I had found that there also was a bus - not from the station, neither from the town centre, but starting at a primary school. A school bus? More or less, but still a public bus. Although it's probably rather unlikely that there will often be passengers which are not students. Also, the timetable was slightly strange: Basically it said that the bus would start at the school and then, all only for leaving, serve each of a list of villages where someone actually wants to get off. One of the potential stops listed was only a few hundred metres from the hash.
Further research in advance had revealed that the school wasn't far from the station, so I walked up to the school and waited for the bus. When the time came, a number of buses of other companies arrived, but none for line 20. Finally a small bus came which belonged to the right company, and displayed two line numbers on the front, none of them being a 20. Walked up to the driver anyway: "The bus to Bogenweiler will come?" - "Hop on." Ok... seems this bus serves even more villages on request and runs with at least three different numbers at the same time...
Bus went off, bus reached Bogenweiler soon, bus went off again and I went off walking. Finding the hash was easy, but I first didn't get closer than about 8 metres. Now that's a difficult question. With good reception 8 metres is well above accuracy, and google maps and the GPS actually agreed that the hash was in there, inside a corn field. I wouldn't call coordinates reached if by all means I can tell that I didn't. With one exception - and that is, if it's reasonably close to the margin of a field (or similar), and it would be easily possible to proceed, but you restrain out of respect, i.e. to make sure to not damage anything. Now, would it be possible to proceed in there or not?
The rows the corn was planted in were far enough from another to walk between them without risking to damage anything. Getting inside was the problem, as along the rows it was planted quite dense. After a little closer examination I finally found a row of gaps - which allowed me to proceed to the insides of the field, and then turn into the path between the rows at the right place. Which I did. Fast. Get to the point, make a picture, get out, and then notice that you misset the GPS and the picture doesn't show the coordinates. Well, I didn't repeat it, so you have to believe me.
On the map I had seen that, not far from the hash, there is a monastery, which was marked as worth seeing - with one star, even, which isn't so common. Also, unlike in hash village itself, where there was no bus for the next four hours, there would be a bus back to Saulgau from there. So instead of directly walking back to Saulgau, I tried to find a way to Sießen. Which I half-failed, half-lucked in - the way I finally took was a large detour, and not quite a way by common standards for significant parts, but it got me there, just in time to see the bus I wanted to take after sightseeing leave the place.
Sießen... well, it was worth a visit, but not so much as I had hoped for. The famous church turned out to be a typical example of a well-equipped upper suabian baroque church - and I couldn't pretend that baroque was my favourite style. It's all too much overloaded for my eyes. I kind of liked the whole areal, though.
Finally walked back to Saulgau from there, arriving there almost two hours later than planned. But on the plus side, I was able to add a significant amount of data to OSM - since almost none of the ways I had taken were known there yet.
After a short visit to the town centre, I caught a train to Ulm and tried to make the best out of the little bit of remaining time before I had to go to Stuttgart.
Gallery
There we are.
Bus to hash village, at hash village
Get off here
Hash village
One of many wayside crosses, just where I had to leave the road
This way to the hash...
... then this one.
That's how the hashpoint looked
Almost reached
Coordinates reached
Marker
That way? That's into the field, isn't it?
When the way got better again.
There was actually an impressing number of those...
View on Sießen from a distance
This sign... in a forest? Usually you see them in harbours...
Protection area?
Sießen monastery church, from the outside
baroque inside. So that's what it's famous for.
the organ
Church of Bad Saulgau
"Pedestrians"
Crossing Stuttgart road means death peril. Please use the bridge at the graveyard or the pedestrians protection facility Örlingen valley way.
NB: No, I don't know what that is. Traffic lights, maybe?
Next eight trains are... whaddyamean, you don't want to go to Crailsheim? You will.
