2012-03-17 47 -122

Sat 17 Mar 2012 in 47,-122: 47.9936191, -122.0928919 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

An aborted construction site in Lake Stevens

Participants

• OtherJack

Plans

Take the bus up and see if it's accessible by now. Not sure if I'll actually go, but thinking about it. Post here if you're interested --OtherJack

OK, going. will be there at about ten minutes to 4 - OtherJack 2pm

Expedition

Success! More details when I have time - OtherJack 03:41, 18 March 2012 (EDT)

So Google Maps had indicated a giant mound of dirt, the size of about three large houselots, along a residential suburban street. I was expecting either said mound with a construction fence around it, or more likely some sort of large finished or partly-built structure, given that the Google satellite pics don't update that often. In other words, a potentially difficult geohash.

But after two buses and then a ten-minute walk through the quiet town of Lake Stevens, I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing but an empty lot! Grass grew on the entire hillside, and there was only a two-foot plastic-tarp "fence" surrounding the place, with no keep-out signs - no signs of any kind, really. All I had to do was just walk a hundred meters or so uphill, avoid the muddy bits, do the hashdance, and then stand around admiring the view of the lake and hills. First success in a year and a half!

No one was around to make me feel awkward, either - it was a dead-end street in a low-key neighborhood. Eventually a neighbor's dog came out and tamely pestered me from a distance, and I politely headed out. With a bit of time to spare before the return bus I strolled down to the Lake Stevens waterfront. Not a bad place. I still wonder what they'd been trying to build on that lot, though.

The high point of the bus-riding was what I saw out the window at one point, in the neighborhood of the hash: A local politician had his campaign sign up on a public fence, and someone had surrounded it with colorful, hand-painted sign boards bearing unrelated lyrics from the musical Chicago. I have no idea if this was supposed to be a compliment to the guy, an insult, or just whimsical subversion of politics. But it gave me a chuckle in any case.

Photos

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  Wow, this is going to be easy

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  View from the hash

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  GPS marks the spot

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  Proof!

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  Looking NE across the lake

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  Cascades emerged once back at the bus stop

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  Full layout was: SLICK YOUR HAIR AND WEAR YOUR BUCKLE SHOES (campaign sign here) AND ALL THAT JAZZ

OtherJack earned the Public transport geohash achievement by reaching the (47, -122) geohash on 2012-03-17 via Sound Transit and Community Transit.