Difference between revisions of "2009-04-12 54 -0"

Revision as of 17:45, 13 April 2009

Participants

Plans (fancy)

...and pants to match!

Expedition

We arrived by automototive-mobile at the sleepy village of rosedale abbey at 14:14 hours. We were 2.6km from the hashpoint, we decided to abandon the vehicle in order to be less conspicuous. We loaded up supplies and the nut-gard(tm)(frisby) and set out on foot. We found a road leading in the desired direction and set out along it after 1.5km it appeared that the road took an unfortunate turn for the uphill so we decided to brave the wildlands. This proved not to be the best course of action as some inconsiderate personage had carelessly strewn barbed wire fences everwhere; showing utter disregard for the testicular welfare of passing geohashers. Lucky we had our trusty frisby (aka Nutgard|TM) which allowed us to traverse this perilous terrain. After many hours searching we approached what appeared to be the hash point only to have our hopes dashed just a few meters from the target by an impassible river. Not to be deterred by this obstacle we set off upstream to find a place to cross. After much searching we manage to cross using a fallen tree and made our way back downstream to the hashpoint. Upon our arrival we were crestfallen to discover that the hashpoint was actually on the other side of the river we'd just come from. Thus we decided to drown our sorrows in cheap tarts (apple) and chocolate sauce

Tracklog

maybe?

Photos

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 == Expedition ==
-..but for most of the day, we did not really find a motivation to go. The sun was shining and we spent the long easter weekend [http://relet.net/g2/d/14845-2/Ostern2009+005.jpg in the garden, reading and playing dart]. [http://relet.net/g2/d/14851-2/Ostern2009+008.jpg (Random cat content here)] - About half past 7pm, lyx again mentioned that we should go for that expedition. relet dropped his facade of lazyness and was all for it.
+We arrived by automototive-mobile at the sleepy village of rosedale abbey at 14:14 hours. We were 2.6km from the hashpoint, we decided to abandon the vehicle in order to be less conspicuous. We loaded up supplies and the nut-gard(tm)(frisby) and set out on foot. We found a road leading in the desired direction and set out along it after 1.5km it appeared that the road took an unfortunate turn for the uphill so we decided to brave the wildlands. This proved not to be the best course of action as some inconsiderate personage had carelessly strewn barbed wire fences everwhere; showing utter disregard for the testicular welfare of passing geohashers. Lucky we had our trusty frisby (aka Nutgard|TM) which allowed us to traverse this perilous terrain. After many hours searching we approached what appeared to be the hash point only to have our hopes dashed just a few meters from the target by an impassible river. Not to be deterred by this obstacle we set off upstream to find a place to cross. After much searching we manage to cross using a fallen tree and made our way back downstream to the hashpoint. Upon our arrival we were crestfallen to discover that the hashpoint was actually on the other side of the river we'd just come from. Thus we decided to drown our sorrows in cheap tarts (apple) and chocolate sauce
-Knowing the unreliability of relet's GPS, we scribbled down the coordinates and a rough approach plan on a large sheet of paper, packed two GPS devices and a photo camera, and left. It took a quick drive down the autobahns one and two, and a few more turns after the exit "Unna" to reach the approximate place. The roads were aptly named "Oil lane" and "Water street", and thus easy to remember. Water street was closed for traffic, so we circled around until we found its other end, and a place to park the car.
-Thanks to relet's excellent memory, we did not even have to resort to the hand-drawn map yet. Which is a good thing - because thanks to relet's excellent memory, this map still lay on a sideboard in the hallway. With the coordinates.
-Well, what we don't have in brains, we have in technology. So we walked [http://relet.net/g2/d/14856-2/Ostern2009+015.jpg in the general direction of the hash], while relet fiddled with his device trying to get to the #geohashing channel to read out the coordinates for today. This, of course, failed (does GPRS use different channels than GSM?), and we resorted to calling home, where lyx' sister would find the sheet of paper and read the coordinates to us.
-Thus armed with complete knowledge, there was nothing that could fail. Soon, we discovered that the hash lay in a [http://relet.net/g2/d/14861-3/Ostern2009+016.jpg natural reserve] - which meant that we should not walk off the beaten path. Hmm, this, and the nearby stream would most probably yield a no trespassing one.
-This being the thoughts that crossed our mind, we discovered a path. A path that led right along the stream. In direction of the hash.
-With a bit of fiddling and blundering forth and back along the path, mostly due to the fact that we had to read out coordinates on the m-401 display and compare it with the target - "ok, we have to go further East. No, less east, more north." Etc. - we reached a place that was [http://relet.net/g2/d/14866-2/Ostern2009+017.jpg quite close to the hash]. The hash would be right next to it, behind [http://relet.net/g2/d/14871-2/Ostern2009+018.jpg that iron, padlocked gate] [http://relet.net/g2/d/14877-2/Ostern2009+020.jpg with the truck and wood stacks].
-We thought of ducks. (Technically, no such bird was present)
-Now, we weren't actually sure if the hash would not lie - maybe, perhaps, on the other side of the fenced lot. And there was some already trampled, low undergrowth along the fence directly to the left of the gate. So we scrambled along, for a few meters and [http://relet.net/g2/d/14882-2/Ostern2009+021.jpg discovered potatoes]. What the duck? This was not a field, and the potatoes were fresh.. is someone feeding the wild boars here? Not that they would require any such support in these lands.
-The potatoes almost (but just barely) distracted us from the coordinates. Which were a bit jumpy, but [http://relet.net/g2/d/14887-2/Ostern2009+029.jpg considerably close] to the hash. We declared it close enough. And indeed, [http://irc.peeron.com/xkcd/map/map.html?date=2009-04-11&lat=51&long=7&zoom=8&abs=1 the satellite shows] the stacks of wood, which we had previously ignored, to be directly south of the hash point.
-Woo, silly grins and [http://relet.net/g2/d/14892-2/Ostern2009+030.jpg various] [http://relet.net/g2/d/14897-2/Ostern2009+032.jpg victory poses] followed. Again, the exedition showed us that it's never too late not to give up. And that leaving late means arriving in the dark.
-And also, that random areas are <s>always</s> often more interesting than they look on the maps: On the way back, we discovered that we had been on a themed walking trail [http://relet.net/g2/d/14902-2/Ostern2009+038.jpg about the old mining works] in the area of Wickede. The nearby shaft [http://relet.net/g2/d/14908-2/Ostern2009+036.jpg was closed, unfortunately]. But it had [http://relet.net/g2/d/14920-2/Ostern2009+037_001.jpg a plaque] (translation pending)
 == Tracklog ==


Sun 12 Apr 2009 in 54,-0: 54.3646909, -0.9192714 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox