2011-04-19 50 11

Tue 19 Apr 2011 in 50,11: 50.9207829, 11.6613730 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In the forest near Jenaprießnitz, on top of the Hirschberg. I'll probably need a machete for this one.

Plans

• Juja will cycle there in the evening.

Participants

• Juja, Frankie and Benjy Mouse

Expedition

The weather in the evening was perfect for geohashing: warm and sunny, so I happily rode my bike through Ziegenhain and up to "Steinkreuz" - after cycling through the forest for about three kms and arriving 200 meters above Jena, I had hoped to find peace and quiet, but instead there were some hundreds of people starting barbies, children running around and the lots of cars that brought them there.

So I quickly went on to today's destination - on Google maps, the satellite picture and OSM it looked as if the nearest way to this geohash would be in about 300 meters distance, and from former (retro) Geohashes I knew that even 30 meters could be quite a problem in these forests. But Google and OSM obviously aren't perfect: the forest was full of ways (meaning ways, not paths or trails!) and I just picked one that seemed to head in the right direction. This one brought me (through wonderful nature) about 50 meters near the hash - but since geohashes can never be that easy, from there on I had to walk... downhill.

-30hm on 50m. Calculate yourself how fucking steep that was; after I had actually given a damn about the contour lines on the topo map, it was next to impossible that I should walk into something like that. Anyway, I slid down to the point, and guess what I found then? A path, leading back up to my starting point! (Near it.) I struggled back to my bike (now all the mountain running finally pays off) and after I found it, I took some relieved proof pictures of me and the mice and cycled back home, this time using beautiful ways I didn't even know yet...

Photos

Back to nature... by car.   Blooming periwinkle on my way.   Yes, there was a way leading to the hash!   Cowslip where I left my bike.   Started walking at 55m distance.   Somewhere all the way down there it is...   Hashpoint reached within accuracy.   Wait... a path?!   Frankie and Benjy mouse enjoying the sun.   Did not mark the point - but I marked the way there...   The beautiful way back home.

Lessons learned

• There are more ways around than I thought. Back to work, OSM guys!
• Ever been annoyed by some keys jangling about in your trouserpockets while you just wanted to go for a peaceful little run or bike trip? Just put them in the pocket together with some mice. That solves the whole problem.