2013-12-13 43 -115
| Fri 13 Dec 2013 in 43,-115: 43.1877842, -115.8032356 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
In the desert NW of Mountain Home
Participants
Expedition
My office closed early, due to this being the day of our company holiday party. I'd checked in the morning and seen that the hash for the graticule just to the east of mine looked pretty easily reachable (and closer than the hash in my own graticule). So, given that I unexpectedly had a few extra hours to kill, I set out from work to reach the hash.
It was a fairly quick and easy drive out to the first Mountain Home exit. I stopped at a gas station by the exit to fill my tank and use their restroom. I left my car filling while I went inside. Unfortunately, the automatic shutoff for the fuel did not work correctly, and so when I came back outside, I found gasoline spraying out of my car's fueling port. I quickly ran to the pump and shut it off, but there was already a substantial puddle of fuel around the rear of my car, so I went back inside to inform the station of the spill. Despite the spill having been caused by a malfunction of their equipment, they were unwilling to provide a refund for the ~4 gallons of fuel which ended up on the ground instead of in the car, although they were polite and apologetic about the whole thing.
Less than satisfied with my trip thus far, I continued on towards the hash. I drove several miles down the old US-30 route, then along a dirt road, until I parked my car beside some train tracks. Upon climbing up the rail bed, which was perhaps 6m high from where I parked my car, I realized that there was a fence between me and the hashpoint. However, I was unable to spot any signs or markers indicating that trespassing was not allowed. So I followed the tracks to the southeast (the direction which brought me closer to the hashpoint), looking for a good place to cross the fence. I finally found a place with some sturdy posts where I could climb over the fence without causing any damage, and over I went. Once across the fence, it was a fairly easy hike across slightly hilly and snowy sagebrush desert to reach the hashpoint. Once there I took some pictures and posted my success to the wiki, though my data connection was poor and I was unable to get more than one picture to upload. (In fact, I wasn't certain that the one had uploaded until I got home and looked at the expedition page). More pictures will follow when I get them off of my phone. Walking back to the car was uneventful, though I ended up crossing the fence in a different (but similar) spot. In total, the walking part of my expedition involved about 1.25 miles of travel.
Going to the hash directly from work without having planned ahead meant that I didn't have a separate camera or GPS unit, only my phone to fill both functions. This makes it impossible to get a photo showing that the coordinates were reached. But fortunately, my phone can also record tracklogs for use as proof, so that is the nature of the proof I'm providing today.
- At the hash! Tracklog will follow. -- Eldin (talk) @43.1878,-115.8032 15:58, 13 December 2013 (MST)
Tracklog
[track] of the walking portion of my expedition, with the hashpoint marked.
Photos
Grin @43.1878,-115.8030
