2009-08-31 45 -122

Location

In Hillsboro, Oregon, between a side street and the Portland-Hillsboro Aiport (to use the technical name.) It is close to the Intel-Jones Farm end of the 25th Ave.

Participants

Jim

Plans

How can I turn down a geohash this close to work?

Expedition

Well, I had a bad feeling about this hashpoint after looking at it on Google Maps and thinking about it. The hashpoint was between a roadway and the (larger) local airport. There's a fence all around the airport to keep people out, but security at airports has gotten a lot more strict in the past few years. But I figured I would give it at try, as I wasn't quite sure where the fence was in relation to the hashpoint.

So, I headed there after work, glancing at the GPS as it counted down from a couple of miles to a few tenths. On the way, the airport fence disappeared behind some businesses only to re-emerge. I then hit a section that I knew was just going to be roadway and fence. Soon, I noticed a gate into the airport. But it also was a flat spot on the side of the road to park.

So, I parked, out of the way of the gate, and walked the remaining 0.2 miles. On the way, I kept expecting the GPS direction arrow to swing far to my right, sending me into chain link and barbed wire. Still I walked on.

Finally, the distance closed to under 20 feet, and I looked around.

And I realized: The hashpoint was about 6 feet from the fence.

On my side of the fence!

The distance closed (surprisingly) to zero. Pictures were taken. Little dances were done. And I thought: "So this is what urban geohashing is like."

Home and dinner of a "risotto" with lake trout called to me, and I answered.