2023-08-12 53 9
| Sat 12 Aug 2023 in 53,9: 53.8869944, 9.9711452 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
on a maize field in Schmalfeld, Schleswig-Holstein
Participants
Expedition
In the evening, I took the train to Kaltenkirchen and cycled 7.3 km to Schmalfeld. On the way, it started to rain heavily (it had already rained most of the day), and after a few minutes my trousers, jacket and even my jersey were soaked, with my shoes and socks following a while later. I strongly hoped my phone wouldn't get drenched in my thin jacket's inside pocket. Additionally, I was constantly worrying about my bike's front tire, which had been completely flat when I wanted to depart (forcing me to take a later train), and seemed to lose its air again.
The hash was located in a field of tall maize right next to a large farm. I intentionally didn't enter the farm's premises from the street for fear of being spotted, and instead cycled along a very rarely used field path to arrive at the hash from the east. Right at the hashfield, I saw a huge farm vehicle standing on the path, and when I looked around the field's edge I saw a person working on the farm. So no entering the field from the closest point to the hash, instead I had to struggle through 50 m of extremely wet maize. It seemed way more than that, but I finally made it and took pictures. All the while, I heard machine noises coming from the farm and sincerely hoped they wouldn't start harvesting the field right now. From the farm edge it would've only been 15 metres …
I made my way back and set off again. The next train from Kaltenkirchen left in 18 minutes, so I wouldn't be able to catch it without racing. It had stopped raining, so I put my phone back in its holder, but soon it began to pour again and more furiously than ever. I began to be really concerned about my phone, even though it had a pretty good case, since my jacket was basically useless at this point. Cycling past Mergelkuhle lake, I noticed a rack and fishing shack, which were easy to reach across an extremely low fence. From the rack, I could see ducks and a heron flying low over the lake, as well as people looking out over the lake from the other side; and in the disused shack I found a damp plastic bag in a heap of trash, into which I wrapped my phone. I stayed for a short while and looked out over the lake, then cycled back to Kaltenkirchen and waited for the train.
Pretty sure I've never gotten this wet while geohashing, and very few times ever from rain alone. All my clothes including my underwear were soggy, I felt like such a drowned rat I could as well have fallen into the lake. The phone, thankfully, was fine.
Photos
to follow
Achievements
Land geohash, Public transport geohash, Drowned rat geohash
