Difference between revisions of "2011-03-12 45 -122"

Latest revision as of 05:48, 9 August 2019

Location

A field near Vancouver, Washington right near a housing development

Participants

Jim

Plans

I have some errands to run, and then might run up there to see if I can get to the hashpoint.

Expedition

Well, after my errand, I headed up north of Portland to hunt for the hashpoint. After I crossed the Columbia River, I rechecked my directions and went up a few exits and got off the highway. I headed down a cross street which kept changing names without taking a turn - it was enough to make me think I was in New England.

Finally, I zipped past a little side street which turned out to be the one I wanted. I headed back and went the right way. Eventually the GPS reported we were 150 feet away. And there was a fence in the way.

I parked and looked over the situation. There was a gap between the houses, as Google Maps showed me, but there was no access from this side, as far as I could tell. I asked a neighbor who was getting into his car about access to the field, and he directed me to a house over a few streets.

I went to the house I thought I was directed to, and walked up and knocked on the door. No answer.

I gave up and walked back to the car. Then I looked more closely at the field layout, and realized that maybe there was a different house to check with. I walked back to the main street from the cul-de-sac I was on, went around to the driveway and then knocked on the front door. No answer again.

As I was leaving, a young woman emerged from the back of the house saying I was knocking at the door they didn't use. I explained what I was on a scavenger hunt, and that I wanted to visit the field. She said it belonged to the person who lived inside, and it was fine for me to go in.

So, I returned to the car, and switched to my Muck Boots, which proved to be a wise choice. I headed into what I thought was the field with a spring in my step, because I was going to get to a hashpoint for once. But it soon became very muddy and then very wet. Luckily, when one is wearing Muck Boots, one doesn't worry about such things. Soon I looked to my left, and realized there was a second field. Which belonged to the house I had first tried. I had a sinking feeling, and it wasn't from standing in a muddy field.

As I got to the end of the field, I looked at the GPS, hoping against hope. It was still about a hundred feet - back towards the street I had came from. The hashpoint really was in the "inbetween" field.

I took a picture of the gate from the front of the neighboring property back into the field that was holding the hashpoint and returned to my car. And drove back home.

Photos

View towards the hashpoint from the street. You can note the multiple fencelines, but I sure didn't at the time.
View towards the hashpoint from the neighboring field
The field where I thought the hashpoint was
The gate of the hashpoint field
The view back towards the neighboring house