2012-10-02 51 -0

Location

Today's location is in downtown London south of the Thames, on the sidewalk near an apartment complex.

Planning

This week is not good for hashing, as I'm quite busy. I told myself I'd wait until next weekend, when I'm completely free, unless a hash practically falls into my lap... and then a hash practically fell into my lap.

I'll walk over there in the early evening, perhaps stop at a nearby geocache on the way there or back. -Haberdasher 10:37, 1 October 2012 (EDT)

Participants

Haberdasher

Expedition

It really would've been easier to do this another day, when I hadn't spent a good deal of time walking already, but the formula called, so off I went.

Even with my GPS dictating directions, I kept getting turned around... it didn't help when the GPS would tell me to go straight when there was no such option, or to go left somewhere illogical. It also didn't help that, at a crucial roundabout, my American mind assumed that "subway" meant the Underground, and kept stubbornly looking for crosswalks that didn't exist. And it was dark and windy and rainy, though none of this is terribly unexpected for an evening in London.

The neighborhood wasn't the nicest, but it was well-lit and well-populated so I wasn't overly concerned. I reached the hash area and did the GPS dance over and over, my GPS giving me inconsistent numbers and not loading until after I'd walked past the point and generally not giving me the photograph I so desired. Even the one I eventually got is one digit off, but I walked all over the edge of that hashwall doing the GPS dance, so I'm certain that I reached the hashpoint. And given that my GPS's accuracy appears somewhat questionable, even if the hashpoint was slightly inside the building, I was within accuracy.

Getting back wasn't a major problem, except my GPS told me to go a silly roundabout way and I kept looping through the subway/underpasses before finally determining which one led to the Underground station. And then said Underground station, Elephant & Castle, didn't even have snacks for me to purchase. The nerve of them!

My feet ache, my raincoat's soaked (though the rest of me isn't), and my nice bowler got covered in dirt... but I managed my first walk geohash and my first European geohash on a schoolnight, and that's good enough for me.