2009-11-08 45 -122
| Sun 8 Nov 2009 in Portland: 45.6808936, -122.7485891 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
Near a parking lot between the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake.
This Sunday hash is near a parking lot in what appears to be public land between the Columbia and Vancouver Lake. Judging from Google Maps, it would be a slam dunk in dry weather, but could be difficult or impossible after all this rain. (Jim notes that Google maps has been known to be wrong, especially since the images can be several years old.)
Participants
- Michael5000 - Made it
- Elegant Forkbomb - Train Wreck
Plans
- Michael5000 hopes to attempt the site between 8:30 and 11:30 in the morning. Weather permitting, he will also take a long run in the area. Will be in a small white Toyota pickup with a white canopy.
Update: 8:30 a.m. -- Expedition Success! Hash is easily accessible via a stile maybe 300 meters north of the parking area. Wearing safety colors is a good idea as lots of hunters are active in the area. Ground surface is firm all the way to the hashpoint.
- Jim was contemplating going there, but had too much to do at home.
- Elegant Forkbomb will probably turn up at 4 or 5
- Aperfectring: It is a bit of a longer drive for me as well, but I am thinking I should go. It would get me out of my house, and also start my work on a minesweeper. Jim, if you decide to go, I can probably provide a ride out there. Given that the weather report says that it should clear up more as the day goes on, if I go, I will probably shoot for 4 PM at hashpoint, which would mean I would try for 3:30 at parking lot.
Expedition
Michael5000's Expedition
I arrived at the parking lot at around 8 a.m. The direct path to the hashpoint was blocked by an obviously impenetrable tangle of blackberries. (Note to self: add "machete" to Geohashing wish list.) The tangle continued unbroken for a couple hundred meters north up the road. Turning back south, I found the way blocked by a triple threat: a barbed-wire fence, beyond which was a farmers field, beyond which was a swampy draw that looked almost certainly impassable.
Bummer. I took some pictures and retreated to the truck. But there I spent a few minutes thinking about the satellite image, and had an idea. I drove north, to just past where the road passed over the swampy draw I had seen past the farmer's field, and bingo! A stile by the side of the road led directly into the large field where the hash was located.
The only complication at this point was that there were several (duck?) hunters in and around the field, occasionally blazing away. The nearest ones were slowly and alertly walking away from me. Very aware of my fall-field beige pants, forest green hat, and non-descript dark grey raingear (Note to self: add "day-glo orange hat" to Geohashing wish list), I approached with caution. "I am approaching behind you," I yelled, feeling like the biggest dork in dorksville. Eventually, I got a wave from one of the hunters, and approached the hash satisfied that I wouldn't be mistaken for prey.
Working from the satellite image, I found one spot that seemed like it might be the hash, but then moved on to another that seemed a little better, but finally, after the hunters cleared out, found a spot that matched up perfectly with image. I triangulated the hash, then walked a tight spiral to make absolutely sure that I had been within a meter of the exact spot. Those hunters must have thought that I was not only kind of annoying, but also off my rocker.
I made it back to the track at about 9 a.m. As a bonus, the running route I had planned turned out to have an off-road trail for pretty much its entire length. It was pretty much the perfect hash!
Elegant Forkbomb's Expedition
I set off on my Schwinn at 1400. At 1430, I concluded that the root cause of my swerving at red lights was that my rear wheel had been bent sometime in the past week while the bike had been locked up outside. I elected to abort the expedition.
Achievments
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Michael5000 earned the Land geohash achievement
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Elegantforkbomb earned the Train wreck consolation prize
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Photos
Michael5000's hashcot posing in a contraption (probably a nesting site?) several dozen meters north of the hashpoint.
Looking south from the hashpoint. The little orange specs are hunters.
