2012-06-30 38 -95

Location

On the edge of a field near some train tracks.

Participants

QuantumCop

Plans

QuantumCop

This geohash (along with all those active at this same time) should provide a good opportunity for earning a Leap Geohash achievement, as there is going to be a leap second on this day. Since the leap second will be at 23:59:60 UTC, that means that I plan to arrive at the geohash no later than about 18:45 CDT, since CDT is UTC-5:00. I will not be making it for the official 4:00 meetup, since I live about an hour and a half drive from this spot.

Expedition

In order to make it to the geohash (about an hour and fifteen minutes away) on time for the leap second, I left my apartment a little before 5:30 PM. As usual, the journey began by taking me south from Lawrence on U.S. 59, then southwest on I-35. I followed my GPS from there, eventually turning down some small gravel roads. Heading towards the geohash, I eventually ran into (not literally) an iron gate with no trespassing signs on it. I thought I might end up having to settle for a No Trespassing consolation prize again, but checking my GPS, it turned out the hash was in the field adjacent to the road I was on, and not on private property.

I got out of my car and waded through some relatively thick brush, and before long was in an open field. I walked around a bit, following my GPS, and eventually found the location of the hash. I took some pictures, including my proof and Stupid Grin, and then waited for the leap second. I opened up the GPS clock on my phone and waited until just before 7:00 PM. I don't think the clock on my phone actually showed the leap second itself, which would have been 18:59:60, but I snapped a picture of the clock close enough to that time. Achievement unlocked! Hopefully what proof I was able to provide for it will be sufficient. After getting a couple more pictures, I headed back to my car, turned around, and drove back home, satisfied with my successful geohash.