2025-05-28 53 7

Location

Within a quiet zone in a national park.

Participants

Gaboversta

Expedition

Yet again, Wednesday after work. No going to Lingen this time around though. Instead, I swung myself onto my bicycle and set off in the opposite direction, headed straight for the coast. (Admittedly, the coast can be found in pretty much every direction from Emden…) The only time limit I had was dinner, which would just be leftovers anyway.

After leaving Emden via the nicest highway crossing bridge I have ever encountered, I started feeling the wind. It blew directly into my face, draining energy quickly. Nevertheless, I managed to traverse multiple villages with names ending in -um and soon started seeing the dike, a clear sign that the geohash was near-ish. Just before reaching said dike I found myself in the middle of a gigantic wind park, audibly recognizable by the sound of a singular airplane which overpowered every sort of noise emitted by the wind turbines surrounding me.

The path I had planned to take was partially blocked by a construction fence with a sign stating danger to life on workdays between 07:00 and 17:00. Good thing I left after work, this way I reached this construction side outside of life endangerment hours. A kilometer later I was stopped by a gate with no obvious way around it and only a small sign forbidding dogs. Not knowing whether I was allowed to pass, I backtracked for a bit, bringing me great enjoyment in the form of tail wind. The next gate had some more signs, allowing me to pass.

At first I assumed that the geohash lay on the dike itself, where it had just been reconstructed and the grass was still young. This would not turn out to be the case, with me crossing over the dike and seeing the vast salt marsh which actually housed it. I travelled along the coast for a bit, nearing the geohash. Just before reaching the nearest point, a sign informed me of the classification of this particular stretch of salt marsh: quiet zone, entry prohibited. No reaching the geohash then.

This was still a very nice spot to hang out. The now dormant construction site meant extremely low volumes of traffic (only cycling and walking are allowed anyways). I would soon find out that confusing signage contributed to that: This particular spot was still marked as inaccessible depending on where one came from. For the moment though, I sat down, enjoyed my Laugengebäck as well as the view and made plans for the return journey.

Instead of sticking to the direct route along major roads, I would try to follow the extremely nice paths along the coast. With Emden being coastal as well, there should be no way to miss it, and here wind, route simplicity and surface quality worked together to make cycling extremely fun.

This was easier said than done. Multiple times would I find myself backtracking out of dead ends or paths leading inland. I did come across a nice looking light tower though.

The coastal area of the national park is divided into different zones, some of which permit entry of the salt marsh, while others don't. Future geohashes here should be preceded by more thorough research or involve bringing something to read.

Photos

Posted life endangerment hours.
No way past here.
Ah, I'm allowed in!
The sea!
National park, quiet zone, no access. (I know it isn't readable, my phone did not like this motif.)
The hash is somewhere in there.
Really nice path for cycling.
Nice looking light tower.
The Netherlands are taking this whole wind power thing seriously.