2013-09-07 45 -122

Location

In or near the Hopkins Demonstration Forest, in the woods south of Oregon City.

Participants

Plans

Frogman (talk), Alison

Although we had agreed that we would hang out that evening, we couldn't think of anything to do besides sitting around playing Animal Crossing. There was nothing interesting at the movie theater, we hadn't heard of any good free events, the hashpoint was inaccessible... wait, was it? We checked, and it looked from the satellite view as if it were in a public area. On the spur-of-the-moment, we decided to stop by Michael's house with little to no warning and then head off on our adventure.

Expedition

Michael5000's Tale

In the morning, I considered making a trip to try hashpoints in The Dalles, Bend, and Springfield graticules. Mrs.5000, noting that we just got back from an exhausting trip to New England, suggested "You're mad." I had to admit she had a point, so I didn't go. Meanwhile, I didn't think much of the Portland hashpoint.

After dinner, I checked my computer and saw the following message from the Frogman:

Do you want to hit up the Portland geohash with Alison and me? Today. Like right now. We're going to drive to your house if you don't answer.

Oi, the kids these days! I programed my GPS, put on some shoes, and was waiting on the porch.

It turned out we had two different ideas of how to get to the hashpoint. My southern approach dead-ended in private property. Frogman's northern approach ended at the parking area for the Demonstration Forest. From there, it was a rugged half mile across a small valley to the hashpoint. That wouldn't ordinarily deter doughty geohashers like ourselves, except that the sun was starting to set and there was an entrance gate that, according to a sign, is closed at dusk.

We went to a nearby kiosk and found that there were trails that could get us fairly close to the hashpoint, if we had enough time before the gate closed. Frogman and Alison went to check at the host's trailer if we could beg enough time to make it to the hash and back. Meanwhile, I had noticed a sign giving the coordinates to a nearby geocache, and, after a little unit-conversion math, programmed the coordinates into my GPS.

The others returned, reporting that the host trailer was inhabited only by frightened cats. I had determined that the geocache was a couple of hundred feet away, so we went and poked around until we found it. By that time, the sun was actively setting, and it was clearly too late to head into the forest. So, we left.

Photos

On our way to the geohash, from the perspective of the kidnapped
We note our names in the geocaching log
Goofy grins
The hashpoint was somewhere on that ridge, but the sun was setting so we decided to head home.