2024-08-26 61 -148

Mon 26 Aug 2024 in 61,-148: 61.5213774, -148.9962197 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Jim Creek Recreation Area:

Hash-point is half a mile south of the Jim Creek Recreation Area parking lot, an area well known to be frequented by off-road enthusiasts, 2nd amendment fanatics, as well as a smattering of mischievous teenage criminals and fun-loving anarchists and other chaotic-neutral types.

Participants

Wadudu (talk)

Plans

1:28pm: Thinking about Geohashing in general. I first discovered geohashing 3 days ago but have been working all 3 days until today. It seems the geohashing community consisted of maybe a dozen people in this state and seems to have died off almost a decade ago. Pity, might have been fun.

2:03pm Checked for today's hash point location. It is surprisingly accessible but in an area I have little interest in visiting. no plan to visit.

3:48pm My family is going to the state fair. I have no desire to go to the state fair. Plan to stay home alone.

4:10pm Looking at map, wondering where to go for a hike for the next couple hours.

4:12pm Remember today's geohashing point. initiate decision making algorithm...

Negatives:

1. There are ATVs there and lots of noise.
2. There are crazy people with guns there.
3. I'm kind-of lazy.

Positives:

1. It is unlikely that future hash points will be this accessible.
2. I haven't been to the area in many years.
3. it's only a 15 minute drive.
4. It might be fun to run for my life from crazy people.
5. Lazy people don't do fun things, plus they die young from cardiovascular disease. I don't want to be lazy.

4:47pm Decision made. Plan to visit. Plan to drive to parking area, park, then walk through the woods. Shouldn't be too hard.

Expedition

5:12pm begin driving my newly-dubbed "Hasher-Van" to Jim Creek

5:26pm drive by the burnt-out shell of a school bus in the Jim Creek Recreation area

5:30pm arrive in parking area but then realize I do not have 5 dollars cash to pay for a parking permit.

5:31pm Park Hasher-Van on the eastern-most edge of the parking lot. I hope my van is not noticed by the Jim Creek Parking Police. I recall this is The Butte, "Appalachia-Alaska". They don't give out measly parking tickets here. If they find the Hasher-Van doesn't have a valid parking tag on it, they will probably pour gasoline all over it before touching it off with the glowing tip of a Marlboro cigarette. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to the school bus.

5:36pm Slipping stealthily out of my van, I hear the buzz of distant dirt bikes, side by sides and the occasional gun shot. The gun shots sound like they are far enough away so now's my time to dash for cover. Keeping my head down I sprint directly into the spruce forest to the south. Entering the woods, I head straight for the hash point, immediately startling a squirrel who returned the favor by startling me with his chatter (photo below). The black spruce are pretty close together and scratching at my face but I need to make good time because the longer I'm away from the Hasher-Van, the greater my likelihood of returning to a burnt-out hulk of metal frame and smoking tires.

5:50pm making slow progress in a straight line through fairly dense trees, I decide to follow meandering mud trails instead.

5:51pm tired of mud and giant puddles as well as twisting trails that don't actually go where I want to go, I head back in to the woods, still making a straight line for the hash point.

5:57pm emerging from a stand of young poplars, stepping onto another narrow twisting track, I hear a pack of dirt bikes tearing up toward me. In a surge of adrenaline, I leap back into the woods and lay flat on the moss while the pack comes roaring and howling by. It was a close call, but I managed to evade them.

6:02pm I am only 15 feet from the hash-point which appears be in the middle of a giant puddle of grey-silt muddy water. Fortunately, as I chase the wandering hash-point closer, it appears I might catch it just on the edge

6:04pm exact coordinates confirmed on my GPS. photos taken of the GPS then a selfie at the hash point. I am a little disappointed that I did not bring cake or party hats.

6:06pm a growling herd of side-by-sides approaches and I leap back into the cover of the woods. Crouched behind a clump of high-bush cranberry bushes I watch them rumble by without incident.

6:19pm after an inexplicably adrenaline-fueled flight through dense spruce forest, I arrive back at the parking lot to find the Hasher-Van is still intact without parking ticket, bullet holes, or scorch-marks. Success!

Photos

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  Entering the forest (can you find the squirrel in this photo?)

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  Muddy ATV trail at the hashpoint

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  Wadudu has arrived

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  GPS proof