2020-11-24 53 10

Location

near a tree at the edge of a field in Henstedt, Schleswig-Holstein

Participants

π π π (talk)
MikroKosmos (talk)

Expedition

π π π

Before

A geohash only 1.2 km from my home! And I literally was on that exact field just a few months ago while jogging, only 75 m from the hash – in fact, I think this was the last field I‘ve been on, excluding geohashing expeditions! What is the chance of that‽

Apart from being my second close miss of a Couch Potato Geohash honorable mention, this is also my 4th geohash in my hometown.

As this hash is extremely convenient for me, I will be going for the „uncomfortable“ achievements I‘m still missing, including Midnight, Sunrise, Hobbit, Formal attire, and maybe a few others (on at least three different occasions, it‘s 5 minutes by bike).

log from 17/12/2020

(I've already forgotten some of the details …) After thinking about it over the course of the day, in the late evening of 2020-11-23 I eventually decided I would go for the Camping geohash achievement. Even though it was set to be only 3 °C, I felt confident I would be able to sleep as it was not supposed to rain, I had a good sleeping bag and I have slept in low (even freezing) temperatures before. So I gathered utensils such as a powerful torch, sleeping bag & pad, pillow, extra socks & warmers and water, put them in my hiking backback and set off only 5 minutes to midnight. Because I left so late, I had to race my bike to the hash to still get the Midnight Geohash achievement, and made it just in time (though it took a few minutes until my phone managed to take screenshots). The grass was very wet, and in the darkness I could not see farther than 20 m even with flashlight. I was not sure what this field was being used for, and several times while I stood in the darkness, I heard rustling and feared that a bull would come charging at me at any moment. But I knew that was probably baseless as there was no fence around the field. Still, I decided I would sleep under a huge oak only 12 m from the hashpoint, a little elevated at the edge of the field behind some mid-size vegetation and next to a big stack of wrapped hay bales, feeling that would be more cozy and much less conspicuous in case of potential farmers.

So, still feeling pretty warm, I made my bed on the relatively flat ground, though I had to shift my pad several times to avoid gradients and roots. I could see the cloudy sky through the branches and, though I was surrounded by nature, lights of houses on three sides (though none was nearer than 280 m). I set several alarms for some time before sunrise, which was at 8:04 am this late in the year at these latitudes, as I wanted to leave directly after. I messaged my worrying family that I was alright, listened to some music and then got ready to sleep, leaving on my clothes for warmth (naturally, I had my scarf and winter cap on almost the entire time). But I couldn‘t seem to fall asleep – though I didn't freeze my arse off, every time I was close to dozing off, the coldness started to creep in and kept me from it. Contrary to my habit, I couldn't easily roll over or lie on the side and had to sleep on my back without moving. Additionally, I heard severe rustling nearby several times and startled every time, wide awake, mildly expecting some fox or boar or something of the kind to come at me. But, unsurprisingly, it seemed to have just been a particularly loud breeze every time (though I could have sworn I heard more than that at the time).

After some hours of trying to sleep, I put on my overcoat for additional warmth. At first, that didn't seem to help much, but after already contemplating sleeping at home and coming back for sunrise, I finally managed to fall asleep maybe around 3 am. I woke up several times during the night, managing to glimpse a single star through the branches, and woke up for the last time when it already started to dawn. In total, I slept maybe three and a half hours there. I got up, documented my nightly domicile and started to pack my things, grateful to have made it. At sunrise, I walked back to the hashpoint and took photos by daylight, for the first time seeing my surroundings. I laid a cross on the ground to find the spot later, packed my last things and set off, arriving at home not even 15 minutes after sunrise. I ate breakfast and then, having no scheduled appointments that day because university was still all-digital, slept for another about three hours.

I had initially planned to do a combined Hobbit/Formal attire geohash later in the day because I didn't want to do those over long distances. But I decided walking a kilometer barefoot in low temperatures would be too unpleasant, so I just did the formal attire. After going through a lot of trouble to find my only suit, in the afternoon shortly after sunset around 4 pm I went back. I didn't put on my leather shoes because they'd get too dirty, but I did wear hat and tie on top of suit and shirt. When I arrived, I saw someone at the hash – and immediately thought it had to be another geohasher, because it was very unlikely anyone else would randomly be at that exact location. It turned out to be MikroKosmos, whom I'd narrowly missed just two days previously at 2020-11-22 53 9. I had never met anyone else at my 65 regular geohashes, so this was a big deal for me. He had marked his spot with a makeshift paper flag of the day's calendar page, around 5 m from my x (pretty big discrepancy if you ask me, probably mostly my phone's fault). We talked for a while about Geohashing and he took a photo of me in formal attire before leaving. What a chance that the first time I meet someone else is on such an extraordinary expedition! After that, I explored the area a little by walking to the nearby Wöddelbek creek, then went back to the hashpoint and recorded myself (badly) playing the harmonica to get another Musical achievement. Just before leaving, I discovered a severed piece of wrap from one of the hay bales stuck on a branch, which I disentangled and threw away at home, earning another Geotrash Geohash. I cycled home, feeling elated about such an adventurous expedition and having met my first local geohasher. Hoping for many more to come!

I regard this as the third of my big expeditions, alongside 2019-12-15 global and 2020-02-29 54 9.

MikroKosmos

"Should I really ride my bicycle 30 km to Henstedt and back home, just to reach a geohash?"

I decided to name it "sport after work". The weather was dry and not very cold. Without GPS I cycled to Rhen and then I followed the streets I had in mind. The street Suhrrehm led me across the fields, then I turned right and reached the field of grass. I pushed my bike forward 80m until I reached the intended position below a big oak. After some back and forth moving, I got the hash coordinates on the GPS and took photos.

Some minutes later another man on a bicycle came into view. Like somehow expected ;-) it was π π π. He wore formal attire. We introduced ourselves and talked a while about geohashing. Then I started for my 15 km ride back home in the twilight.