2022-11-02 46 6

Wed 2 Nov 2022 in 46,6: 46.6594386, 6.8326221 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Ursy, Switzerland.

Participants

Gabin

Expedition

I was in Lausanne during this day, and I saw during the morning that the hashpoint wasn't too far from there, it would only take me one hour by train to attain Moudon, and then I could walk to the hashpoint. I didn't check how much time it would take to the walking part, it seemed close enough on the map. I arrive at Moudon at 4.45 pm, and then I finally check how much time it would take to walk. One hour, tells me Google Map. Hum, that's not convenient, I will be late for dinner. I don't realize at this moment what it really means: that I'm beginning a real journey without water or lamp, and because we are in November, the sun will soon disappear. I'm still decided to achieve my goal, and I begin to walk up a hill, in the forest. I go out of the forest at 5.20 pm, and I arrive at a small village called Chavannes-sur-Moudon.

It seems quite dark on the photo, but it was a lot brighter in reality

I continue between the fields, while the sun sets.

I begin to worry a bit, but not enough in retrospect. I finally arrive at the forest containing the hashpoint, which of course is on a slope, and I begin to climb. No path, of course. At 5.24 pm, I send this final message to my friends: "Je suis dans le noir au milieu de la forêt", which means "I'm in the dark in the middle of the forest".

Then my phone goes from 15% battery to 0, and shuts down. Well, the rescue team will have a bit of trouble finding me with just that information. So now I'm in the dark, still trying to climb because I won't be stopped so easily, and finally I arrive at a path in the forest. I try to turn on my telephone, and it works! It is at 2% though. I run the app to see the hashpoint, and I'm at only 70 meters from it!

I begin to run in direction of the point, and as I finally arrive close enough, my phone shuts down again. Okay, no good proof that I got the point this time. I climb down, in the dark, and this time I use a field just next to the forest, so it is easier, but sadly at some point I slide a bit on something, and I'm pretty sure that was some cow dung. That's a Swiss adventure, after all. I begin to worry about how I will find my way back to Moudon without map, because I don't know the region at all, it's the night, and my sense of direction is really bad. What I am going to do? I need some help. I see a house, and check by the window what it looks like inside. It seems bright, nice, tidy. I gather my courage, and rings the doorbell. I explain my situation (minus the hashpoint part, to not seem even weirder) to a woman and ask if I can charge my phone at their home. She first looks me weirdly (I mean, it's the night in the middle of nowhere, it's normal to be a bit suspicious) and then let me inside. The family was bout to eat, and they propose me some salad. I accept, grateful. I'm quite shy, and I stay mostly silent. When my plate is empty, I check my phone. 12%, that will suffice. I thank them again, and go back into the night. There's a bus stop not far from the house, and when I check it, I see that I missed a bus 5 minutes ago which was going to Moudon. Damn it. So I walk to Chavannes-sur-Moudon, and decide that the path I took earlier would be too hard to find and follow during the night, and decide to go around the forest separating Chavannes-sur-Moundon and Moudon, following a main route. That was a stupid idea, the route was done for vehicules, not walking humans. So I walk for 30 minutes next to a route, having some light only when a car is passing, because I don't dare to use the flashlight of my phone.

Civilization! I'm saved!

Finally, I arrive at the train station of Moudon at 7.30 pm, and the rest of the trip will be without trouble. And I'm really tired.

The train station of Moudon

Me in the train, really tired.