Difference between revisions of "2013-05-18 52 8"

Latest revision as of 02:23, 14 August 2019

Location

In a lake near Twistringen.

Participants

Plans

Todays nearest geohash was again located on the water; so, to make good for my previous geohash which failed due to water, I decided to tackle this one better prepared (with towel and swimming trunks). Foolish me...

The geohash was around 30km from home in a direction I rarely explore, so it was time for a nice cycling trip.

Expedition

Going there and back again completely by bike seemed a bit too strenuous, so I took the bike on the train to Twistringen and cycled from there to the lake. Only it wasn't a normal lake but an abandoned clay pit. And the signs on the barbed wire fence were pretty impressive too (No Trespassing! Danger to Life!). So much for my great plan.

Disappointed, I began exploring the area. This being yet another holiday (Pentecost weekend), the rural area was swarming with locals hauling away small birch trees for the celebration. Apparently nobody quite cared for the signs, and enjoyed some beer on the lake shore - but should I really ignore the Danger signs and go swimming?

But just exploring the area was fun as well - the nearby brick factory had been in operation until 1990, and the municipality had now set up some information tablets about the factory. Also, I found a small wooded area with a beautiful brook running through, and took some pictures. So the trip hadn't been completely in vain; and yet it was painful to again be so close to the goal and yet unable to reach it. Getting ready for the trip home, I decided to make another tour round the lake - and found a gate open that had been closed before! Also, clearly there were people on the other side of the lake. It was now or never.

At the end of the way some cars were parked, and heavily swaying birches nearby suggested that people were still in need of celebration materiel. I left the bike there and found a path down to the water - where an impressive array of fishing rods was arranged, overseen by a small tent. And also to behold: a boat! Plucking up all remaining courage, I hailed at the tent. Two fishermen emerged, a bit startled by my appearance but friendly nonetheless. I explained that the gate had been open, and asked about the boat. Yes, it was theirs, they confirmed.

This was it - the moment of truth, where I stood by a lake in the middle of nowhere and would have to explain to two fishermen that I would like to travel onto the lake, to a specific spot somewhere over there. Unable to think of a better story, I told them exactly that; also added that I needed to shoot some pictures at that spot (thereby handwaving at the presumed location of the geohash) and that it was for some game on the Internet. They gave me a look both amused and sceptic - and then one of them said "well why not", got up, fetched two life jackets and went to the boat.

I sat down in the boat, he rowed me over to where I assumed the geohash to be located, and I took some photos of the GPS reading, the lake and the boat as proof. On the way, we talked a bit, and he was somewhat surprised that some Internet game would send people to "this clay pit here"; which I explained with the coordinates being assigned randomly. He then mentioned that bathing in the clay pit was indeed dangerous (with several people having drowned already - good thing I hadn't tried swimming), especially due to its depth and the very cold water which would occasionally well up from below and lead to cramps. When I told him how grateful I was about their helpfulness, he just commented that "they are game for any kind of stupid idea". I couldn't have summed up geohashing in a better way.

Photos

Part of the old brick factory
This brook itself made the trip worthwhile
Coordinate are pretty close...
... the spot must be somewhere around here
Looking back at an unexpected success

Achievements

Oliver earned the Water geohash achievement

by reaching the (52, 8) geohash on 2013-05-18 by boat.

Oliver earned the Public transport geohash achievement

by reaching the (52, 8) geohash on 2013-05-18 using public transit.

Oliver earned the Consecutive geohash achievement

by reaching 3 consecutive hash points starting on 2013-05-18.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[Image:{{{image|Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-5s.jpg}}}|thumb|left]]
-<!-- If you did not specify these parameters in the template, please substitute appropriate values for IMAGE, LAT, LON, and DATE (YYYY-MM-DD format)
-[[Image:{{{image|IMAGE}}}|thumb|left]]
-Remove this section if you don't want an image at the top (left) of your report.   You should remove the "Image:" or "File:"
-tag from your image file name, and replace the all upper-case word IMAGE in the above line.
-And DON'T FORGET to add your expedition and the best photo you took to the gallery on the Main Page! We'd love to read your report, but that means we first have to discover it! :)
--->
 {{meetup graticule
 | lat=52
@@ Line 24: / Line 16: @@
 == Plans ==
-<!-- what were the original plans -->
 Todays nearest geohash was again located on the water; so, to make good for my previous geohash which failed due to water, I decided to tackle this one better prepared (with towel and swimming trunks). Foolish me...
-The geohash was around 30km from home in a direction I rarely explore, so I planned for a nice cycling trip.
+The geohash was around 30km from home in a direction I rarely explore, so it was time for a nice cycling trip.
 == Expedition ==
-<!-- how it all turned out. your narrative goes here. -->
 Going there and back again completely by bike seemed a bit too strenuous, so I took the bike on the train to Twistringen and cycled from there to the lake. Only it wasn't a normal lake but an abandoned clay pit. And the signs on the barbed wire fence were pretty impressive too (No Trespassing! Danger to Life!). So much for my great plan.
-Disappointed, I began exploring the area. This being yet another holiday (Pentecost weekend), the rural area was swarming with locals hailing away small birch trees for the celebration. Apparently nobody quite cared for the signs, and enjoyed some beer on the lake shore - but should I really ignore the Danger signs and go swimming?
+Disappointed, I began exploring the area. This being yet another holiday (Pentecost weekend), the rural area was swarming with locals hauling away small birch trees for the celebration. Apparently nobody quite cared for the signs, and enjoyed some beer on the lake shore - but should I really ignore the Danger signs and go swimming?
 But just exploring the area was fun as well - the nearby brick factory had been in operation until 1990, and the municipality had now set up some information tablets about the factory. Also, I found a small wooded area with a beautiful brook running through, and took some pictures. So the trip hadn't been completely in vain; and yet it was painful to again be so close to the goal and yet unable to reach it. Getting ready for the trip home, I decided to make another tour round the lake - and found a gate open that had been closed before! Also, clearly there were people on the other side of the lake. It was now or never.
@@ Line 42: / Line 32: @@
 I sat down in the boat, he rowed me over to where I assumed the geohash to be located, and I took some photos of the GPS reading, the lake and the boat as proof. On the way, we talked a bit, and he was somewhat surprised that some Internet game would send people to "this clay pit here"; which I explained with the coordinates being assigned randomly.
-He then mentioned that bathing in the clay pit was indeed dangerous (with several people drowned already - good thing I hadn't tried swimming), especially due to its depth and the very cold water which would occasionally well up from below and lead to cramps. When I told him how grateful I was about their helpfulness, he just commented that "they are game for any kind of stupid idea". I couldn't have explained geohashing in a better way.
+He then mentioned that bathing in the clay pit was indeed dangerous (with several people having drowned already - good thing I hadn't tried swimming), especially due to its depth and the very cold water which would occasionally well up from below and lead to cramps. When I told him how grateful I was about their helpfulness, he just commented that "they are game for any kind of stupid idea". I couldn't have summed up geohashing in a better way.
 == Photos ==
-<!-- Insert pictures between the gallery tags using the following format:
-Image:2012-##-## ## ## Alpha.jpg | Witty Comment
--->
 <gallery perrow="5">
 Image:Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-1s.jpg | Part of the old brick factory
-Image:Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-2s.jpg | The brook itself made the trip worthwhile
+Image:Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-2s.jpg | This brook itself made the trip worthwhile
 Image:Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-3s.jpg | Coordinate are pretty close...
 Image:Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-4s.jpg | ... the spot must be somewhere around here
@@ Line 60: / Line 47: @@
 <!-- Add any achievement ribbons you earned below, or remove this section -->
+{{water geohash
+| latitude = 52
+| longitude = 8
+| date = 2013-05-18
+| name = Oliver
+| image = Geohash-2013-05-18-grat-52-8-twistringen-4s.jpg
+| vehicle = boat
+}}
-<!-- =============== USEFUL CATEGORIES FOLLOW ================
+{{Public transport geohash
-Delete the next line ONLY if you have chosen the appropriate categories below. If you are unsure, don't worry. People will read your report and help you with the classification. -->
+| latitude = 52
-[[Category:New report]]
+| longitude = 8
+| date = 2013-05-18
+| name = Oliver
+}}
-<!-- Potential categories. Please include all the ones appropriate to your expedition -->
+{{consecutive geohash
-<!-- If this is a planning page:
+| count = 3
-[[Category:Expedition planning]]
+| latitude = 52
--->
+| longitude = 8
+| date = 2013-05-18
+| name = Oliver
+}}
-<!-- An actual expedition:
 [[Category:Expeditions]]
--- and one or more of --
 [[Category:Expeditions with photos]]
-[[Category:Expeditions with videos]]
-[[Category:Expedition without GPS]]
--->
-<!-- if you reached your coords:
 [[Category:Coordinates reached]]
+{{location|DE|NI|DH}}
---><!-- or if you failed :(
-[[Category:Coordinates not reached]]
--- and a reason --
-When there is a natural obstacle between you and the target:
-[[Category:Not reached - Mother Nature]]
-When there is a man-made obstacle between you and the target:
-[[Category:Not reached - No public access]]
-When you failed get your GPS, car, bike or such to work:
-[[Category:Not reached - Technology]]
-When you went to an alternate location, or decided early on to abort the expedition:
-[[Category:Not reached - Did not attempt]]
-(Don't forget to delete this final close comment marker) -->


Sat 18 May 2013 in 52,8: 52.8160056, 8.6109384 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox