2015-07-26 37 -122

Location

On a hillside in Martinez, California.

Participants

Codae's sister

Plans

A pretty standard automotive expedition, except that, thanks to my sister's need to accumulate night-driving experience for licensing purposes, we undertook it after sundown. Google Maps suggested there would be no land-use complications, putting the hashpoint outside the park that closes at dusk and off any plot of land containing a house.

Expedition

The first challenge was a locked gate. All that meant, though, was that instead of driving to the base of a fire road and then following that to the proper elevation, we'd have to head straight up the hill.

The second challenge was the hill itself, which was steep and covered with long, dry grass. It also blocked satellite signals from the north, so we couldn't verify the geohash location until we were already far up. We ended up descending some distance before reaching the right reading.

The descent felt like the most perilous part of the night. I slid about as much as I walked (possibly accumulating enough burrs and straws to earn Raptor Attack), but I managed to not drop my laptop at any point.