2021-08-25 53 10

Wed 25 Aug 2021 in 53,10: 53.7767930, 10.0343698 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

on a maize field in Henstedt, Schleswig-Holstein

Participants

• π π π (talk)

Plans

What an absolute dream of a geohash location – 3 km from home, right next to the street! I'll definitely be going for the Walk, Hobbit, and Juggernaut (only 122 m off the line) achievements, and maybe some more like e.g. No Batteries. I could even visit multiple times and who knows what else!

Expedition

I'm going on an adventure!

An Unexpected Journey: After an extensive breakfast, I packed my bag, grabbed food, put on my sword Sting (in plastic, but I have a metal version too), put the One Ring around my neck, grabbed more food, got my walking stick, and finally set off at quarter past eleven(sies) for this mission … quest … thing (on foot and barefoot, obviously). To my surprise, Grandpa Pinns wanted to accompany me, because the hash was so near, and he enjoys walking and doesn't get out much these days. I'd downloaded a tracklog app just for this occasion, and started it a short distance from home. I felt a lot like a Hobbit and also little weird, walking barefoot through my hometown with a plastic sword and a walking stick, but fortunately I didn't recognise any of the many people who passed me by.

The Road goes ever on and on,

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

After a few minutes, I felt it was time for breakfast (I've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?). I got out my biscuits and ate them while walking, starting at 11:22. I had planned my route beforehand to accomplish the Juggernaut achievement, so I turned right onto Schattredder road, which was almost completely covered in bogged down soil, giving me a welcome break from walking on rough asphalt and coarse sidewalks. I had to step aside for tractors to pass me several times (Get off the road!). At 11:43 I passed a bench, took a break and snacked on some maters (What's maters, precious? To-May-Toes! At least no ash on them …) while resting my feet.

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

But no rest for the restless – I got up again and continued along the road. Not far from the hashfield, many cars were parked along the street, and I walked right past the many people who were apparently visiting a field of sunflowers nearby. Shortly later, I arrived at the hashfield after walking for 3.5 km, an hour after I departed. Unlike most Hobbits, I'm not an experienced barefoot-wanderer, so my feet were already getting weary and sore. The hash was only 15 m from the street, but to my great dismay, it was separated by a wide ditch of thorny brambles, just about the worst thing imaginable for bare feet. I initially thought I could do a No Batteries hash, and I hadn't used my phone yet for navigation – but it became clear to me that it'd be impossible to find the exact location without it. I decided to walk along the field to look for an entrance, but the only one was at the beginning of the field, over 250 m back. I walked on for about 100 m and found a spot where the brambles were not quite as thick, and looked just about passable. I whacked them away with my stick and carefully placed my feet (fortunately, the ditch did not carry water, but I still sank in). With the help of my stick, using it as a third leg, I managed to get across without jamming a thorn into my skin. But because I'd walked on so far, I now had to walk back on the field side – but the space between the high corn and the small hedge wall was narrow, the appendages of some brambles reached over, and many of the maize stems had buckled such that the space became obstacle-rich and hard to pass through. So I instead went into the maize and tried to walk there, but it was even worse – the stalks stood very close together and were bent all over the place, such that the best way to proceed would've been to just bulldoze through (I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!). But that didn't work too well either, and I decided it would be best to fight my way along the edge. The short distance took excruciatingly long and I stepped on brambles several times (by now my feet were burning). When a low tree blocked the way, I had to struggle through the maize again. I finally arrived near the hash, but still had through 6 m (10 rows) of maize. I tried to find gaps between them, which mostly worked – 15 minutes after conquering the brambles, I arrived at my destination: Mount Erebor Mount Doom the geohash.

I took photos of the surroundings, of Pinns and Baruch (a most unlikely pair, though Pinns seemed to be having great fun), and of myself, One Ring and Sting in hand. But the journey doesn't end here: For Hobbits, it's always there and back again.

(This is only the first half of the report which I wrote shortly after the expedition, I will write up the rest (hopefully) soon.)

Photos

will follow shortly (27 pictures, 3 videos)

Tracklog (incomplete)

will follow shortly

Achievements

Land geohash

π π π earned the Walk geohash Achievement by reaching the (53, 10) geohash on 2021-08-25 on foot.

π π π earned the Juggernaut achievement by reaching a geohash in a straight line (with a deviation of barely 1:25) on 2021-08-25.

π π π earned the Hobbit Achievement by bearing a ring and baring his feet to and from the (53, 10) geohash on 2021-08-25.