2019-08-31 57 25

Location

on a meadow just beyond private lands near Valmiera or Buka, Latvia

Participants

Leidenfrost (talk)
π π π (talk)

Expedition

π π π (log from April 2020)

On our trip around the Baltic Sea, we had originally planned to do at least one hash in every country, but blew that chance when we missed 2019-08-28 55 23 in Lithuania three days previously. But this one lay just perfectly, just 500 m from one of the two possible roads we could take to Estonia. We started in the morning in Riga, then went hiking for hours in Gauja National Park and visited the village of Cēsis with its epic castle. In the evening, we arrived at the village of Buka where the hash was located.

We parked at the street and decided to go the direct route, crossing a private front lawn. So we walked 270 m down the road and then 100 m through the garden, nobody seemed to notice us. But as we walked through the following forest, our blood froze in our veins as we heard a dog barking. We hoped it wouldn't follow us through the dense forest and we didn't think it was private, but the huge dog came ever nearer and soon caught up to us. As we saw it, we both stopped dead, utterly terrified; for sure it was going to oust us from the lands we weren't allowed on, likely by sinking its teeth into our legs. I've legitimately rarely, if ever, felt more scared. But the dog didn't bite, it only trotted by our side, waving its tail. Sometimes, it strayed ahead, then came back, always staying nearby. If he was supposed to guard this place, he was doing a terrible job. After processing the initial shock, we continued the 120 m through the dense forest, finally arriving on a clearing consisting of a meadow where the hashpoint lay. We found the spot and took photos, all while the huge dog romped around us. We didn't take the same way back, instead walking across a pasture and then down the road, the dog running ahead even though we were far away from its supposed territory. We were beginning to think it was ownerless. Almost at the main street, we got another shock, as we heard ferocious barking again. A smaller, but much louder dog ran toward, but fortunately he was fenced in on the property we passed. We arrived at the car and set off, making sure we didn't take our dog companion with us. It was already after sunset, but we crossed the border and spent the night in Pärnu, Estonia.

That's the story of how we unlocked our third graticule in only ten days (could've easily been four). This was definitely the scariest hash of my life, and will likely remain so.