2024-11-12 44 -92

"That sign won't stop me, because I can't read!" (Just kidding.)

Tue 12 Nov 2024 in St. Paul SE: 44.9823735, -92.7296226 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On a path through exurban woods in Hudson, WI.

Participants

Kyrkazakh (talk)

Plans

Kyrkazakh (talk) already visited by the time she wrote this.

Expedition

Relatively straightforward and pleasant, just the way I wanted it. This part of Wisconsin is at the very edge of the Twin Cities metro area, right over the Mississippi River. A few years back they built a new bridge for MN-36 which massively cut down travel time for a lot of folks to get to Minneapolis and St. Paul, plus the I-94 bridge has been renovated; the upshot is that the population of this area has exploded as of late. Hudson in particular felt very clean and new as I got off I-94. I doubt much of the area I drove through was even paved two decades ago.

I knew this hash was adjacent to a paved trail that cut through a bit of exurban (very likely not old-growth) forest, so I parked my car next to a house at one end of the trail and walked over to the start. What greeted me were the signs shown at the top of this webpage. What a strange and specific warning. How far off the trail is trespassing? If I set foot on the grass am I committing an illegal activity? Surely not, as there's a fair bit of mowed grass on either side. Weird. Regardless I grabbed my lunchbox, walked the very short distance to the hash site, and sat down for a brief picnic. It was windy and cold (not quite freezing but not far either) but I enjoyed eating outside in a somewhat-natural setting. A handful of joggers and walkers passed by, and I said hi, but we didn't exchange anything more than pleasantries so I'm not counting an achievement for that. Twice a neighbor popped out of her house to let her dog use the restroom, and they both definitely seemed confused as to why a stranger was sitting on a random spot next to the trail and eating lunch. But they also didn't call the cops on me or anything so, that's a win in my book. Overall a nicer experience than my time up in Anoka County last Friday.

On the way out I stopped by the local YMCA to grab a retro hash, see here for more on that. Then I returned to my workplace, simple as that. Pleasant lunch out in Wisconsin. Except I didn't realize the picnic achievement required specific accoutrements. Egads! Another day perhaps...

Photos

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  Old Man River...

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  Curiously specific wording that I will interpret very specifically.

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  View of this cute little paved path through the woods, looking east from hash site.

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  Made it! Wasn't hard, basically immediately on the path.

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  Surrounding neighborhood. Someone and their dog came outside from the house on the right and were definitely perplexed to see me.

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  Settling in for lunch.

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  Despite the wintry wind, hash lunch is best lunch.

Achievements

Kyrkazakh achieved level 3 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in Minneapolis SW, Minnesota and 3 of the surrounding graticules.

Kyrkazakh achieved level 3 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in Minneapolis NW, Minnesota and 3 of the surrounding graticules.

Kyrkazakh achieved level 2 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in St. Paul SE, Minnesota and 2 of the surrounding graticules.

Kyrkazakh earned the 2-in-a-row achievement by achieving a connection of 2 graticules in a row (45,-93 to 44,-92) after reaching the (44, -92) geohash on 2024-11-12.

Kyrkazakh earned the 3-in-a-row achievement by achieving a connection of 3 graticules in a row (44,-94 to 44,-92) after reaching the (44, -92) geohash on 2024-11-12.

Kyrkazakh issued a challenge for the Tale of Two Hashes achievement by geohashing in a place named Hudson from the (44, -92) geohash on 2024-11-12.