2022-09-14 53 10

Wed 14 Sep 2022 in 53,10: 53.7404765, 10.5823916 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

at the edge of a field in Düchelsdorf, Schleswig-Holstein

Participants

• π π π (talk)

Expedition

My mum and me were driving to Mölln, and this hash lay practically right next to our route. We stopped and walked a short way to the path nearest to the hash, the Kaiserdamm. Here, my mother waited while I scrambled down a bank, through a forest, over a fence and through nettles, and encountered an unexpected brook. It wasn't wide, but its banks were steep and weed-overgrown, and I almost gave up until I found a spot with a small empty patch on the other side. I jumped across and hoisted myself up the bank, unknowingly losing my phone in the process – I only noticed a while later, and was relieved to discover it had fallen in the dirt and not into the river.

I made my way across a field, drawing the attention of some curious horses a field over, and then wanted to make my way across the next patch to access the hash, fighting past some extremely high nettles (2 m and taller). When I managed to get a look at the terrain, to my dismay I found that the nettles covered the entire area toward the hash, and they only got taller and denser. Even though I wore a coat and long trousers, I knew I would not be able to overcome this obstacle without burning myself who knows how many times. I couldn't circumvent the nettles to the left, because there was another, wider creek with steep nettle-strewn banks and a fence on the other side, so I tried it to the right. I could not see the end of the stinging weeds in that direction, and when I tried to get a better look by climbing up the slope that separated the next field, I could not even get to the top: After I had freed my coat from the many thorns of a brambly scrub, I was faced with a wall of brambles which prevented me from proceeding.

I pondered going around this too, but that meant a long detour, which opened many opportunities for new impediments, and I'd likely still have to overcome some nettles to get to the geohash. Also, I didn't want to let my mum wait for that long; otherwise I might've walked around the entire area and tried to approach from the south. So I decided to go back to the nearest possible spot, 77 m from the hash, take a few pictures, and then walk back to the path, jumping the stream at the same spot and sinking into the mud below the vegetation. Disappointed, I walked back to the car with my mum and we went on to Mölln. This is the first time a natural obstacle has hindered me reaching a hash, and thus also my first MNB prize. Some consolation.

Photos

will follow shortly (7 pictures)

Achievements

π π π earned the Done with Nature consolation prize by failing to reach the (53, 10) geohash on 2022-09-14. Nettles taller than him and an unexpected stream prevented his passage.