2012-03-26 41 -80

Location

Near Grove City, Pennsylvania

Participants

Nsnyder 21:41, 26 March 2012 (EDT)

Plans

So, after I found out about the awesome Global Hash, I started looking into opportunities to do it where I am. Since I am in college without access to a car, and am a cross country runner, the obvious solution was to find one within running distance. I waited most of the month for this opportunity, especially excited since I am (was!) in a virgin graticule. When I saw the location, I plotted a route, which would take me along the road and following train tracks to 500 meters from the point. Then I planned to go through the woods and find the geohash in the nearby field.

Expedition

Operation Virgin Geohash

I set out, with only my running shoes and trusty Droid Incredible as my GPS, to be the first to claim a geohash in the Youngstown, Ohio location. As I set out, I ran along the road, climbed onto the train tracks, and approached my goal. I looked on in determination as it became apparent that I must cross a swamp in order to reach the location. Google maps had obscured this fact by showing me the woods. Still, I pressed on. I climbed down the hill and sloshed through the swamp, careful not to drop my Droid Incredible as I went. Finally, I crossed the large swamp and then a smaller marsh and reached the field. From then, it was only a matter of finding the correct location in the field. Embedded is the proof. I realize that I forgot the date, but the metadata should speak for itself. On this March 26, I became the first to claim the Youngstown, Ohio graticule!

(The distance to location is 2.78 meters, well within the margin of error for the GPS)