Difference between revisions of "2024-11-20 43 -92"

Revision as of 03:00, 21 November 2024

When does nature become unnatural?

Location

Near the "Capitol Highway" north of Waltham, MN.

Participants

Kyrkazakh (talk)

Plans

Kyrkazakh (talk): Grab on my way back to the Cities today.

Expedition

A typical ditch hash expedition, made more distinct by the relatively sudden onset of winter weather today in Minnesota. We had some light snow on Halloween but since then it's been nothing 'til today. Big wet flakes coming down, and as you get out to the ex-prairies and farmlands the wind whips the snow across the roads, the fields, and (if you're outside) your face. I approached from the north via MN56, which I believe was actually the first highway in Minnesota to have an official honorary name: the "Capitol Highway", so called because its route runs from St. Paul to Minnesota's border with Iowa. These days that highway has been rendered almost entirely obsolete by I-35, and so the Capitol Highway today is almost entirely unmarked, both on-site and online.

Anyways, today I saw (in my opinion) a pretty representative sample of the changing economies of rural Minnesota. Wind and solar energy are becoming big business here, and turbines loom within eyesight of almost any field in the region, including from the hash site. Google Maps routed me on a 'road' that proved to be 'basically the two-way driveway of someone's house' but fortunately no one emerged from the home. I pulled the car over nearby (once again on a public road, I should clarify), hopped out, snapped photos and obtained proof, and dipped right back inside my car. With wind chill it was 17 degrees F, roughly -8 C. My journey continued west and then north as I returned to the Cities. Not bad for a below-freezing expedition that was the first successful one this graticule has seen in over a decade.

As a parting word, here's "Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter" by Minnesotan poet Robert Bly:

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.

The only things moving are swirls of snow.

As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.

There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.

Driving around, I will waste more time.

Photos

I love this photo. Such a specific vibe.
It was snowing / And it was going to snow.
Roadkill seen during the approach.
Proof of location...
...and proof of weather.
Can you tell it was windy?
View to the north from site.
View to the west from site.
View to the southeast from site.

Achievements

Kyrkazakh earned the Frozen Geohash Achievement

by reaching the (43, -92) geohash on 2024-11-20 while the temperature was -2°C.

Kyrkazakh earned the 2-in-a-row achievement

by achieving a connection of 2 graticules in a row (44,-93 to 43,-92) after reaching the (43, -92) geohash on 2024-11-20.

Kyrkazakh achieved level 4 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement

by visiting coordinates in Minneapolis SW, Minnesota and 4 of the surrounding graticules.

Kyrkazakh achieved level 3 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement

by visiting coordinates in St. Paul SE, Minnesota and 3 of the surrounding graticules.

Kyrkazakh achieved level 2 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement

by visiting coordinates in Austin, Minnesota and 2 of the surrounding graticules.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-<!-- If you did not specify these parameters in the template, please substitute appropriate values for IMAGE, LAT, LON, and DATE (YYYY-MM-DD format)
+[[File:Waltham roadkill.jpeg|thumb|left|When does nature become unnatural?]]
-[[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|date=2024-11-20|lat=43|lon=-92|graticule_name=Austin|graticule_link=Austin, Minnesota}}
 == Location ==
@@ Line 16: / Line 8: @@
 == Plans ==
-<!-- what were the original plans -->
+[[User:Kyrkazakh|Kyrkazakh]] ([[User talk:Kyrkazakh|talk]]): Grab on my way back to the Cities today.
 == Expedition ==
-TBC. [Success] <!-- how it all turned out. your narrative goes here. -->
+A typical ditch hash expedition, made more distinct by the relatively sudden onset of winter weather today in Minnesota. We had some light snow on Halloween but since then it's been nothing 'til today. Big wet flakes coming down, and as you get out to the ex-prairies and farmlands the wind whips the snow across the roads, the fields, and (if you're outside) your face. I approached from the north via MN56, which I believe was actually the first highway in Minnesota to have an official honorary name: the "Capitol Highway", so called because its route runs from St. Paul to Minnesota's border with Iowa. These days that highway has been rendered almost entirely obsolete by I-35, and so the Capitol Highway today is almost entirely unmarked, both on-site and online.
+Anyways, today I saw (in my opinion) a pretty representative sample of the changing economies of rural Minnesota. Wind and solar energy are becoming big business here, and turbines loom within eyesight of almost any field in the region, including from the hash site. Google Maps routed me on a 'road' that proved to be 'basically the two-way driveway of someone's house' but fortunately no one emerged from the home. I pulled the car over nearby (once again on a public road, I should clarify), hopped out, snapped photos and obtained proof, and dipped right back inside my car. With wind chill it was 17 degrees F, roughly -8 C. My journey continued west and then north as I returned to the Cities. Not bad for a below-freezing expedition that was the first successful one this graticule has seen in over a decade.
+As a parting word, here's "Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter" by Minnesotan poet Robert Bly:
+''It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.''
+''The only things moving are swirls of snow.''
+''As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.''
+''There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.''
+''Driving around, I will waste more time.''
 == Photos ==
-<!-- Insert pictures between the gallery tags using the following format:
-Image:2024-##-## ## ## Alpha.jpg | Witty Comment
--->
 <gallery perrow="5">
+Image:Waltham turbine1.jpeg | I love this photo. Such a specific vibe.
+Image:Waltham snowfields.jpeg | It was snowing / And it was going to snow.
+Image:Waltham roadkill.jpeg | Roadkill seen during the approach.
+Image:Waltham proof.PNG | Proof of location...
+Image:Waltham weather.PNG | ...and proof of weather.
+Image:Waltham selfie.jpeg | Can you tell it was windy?
+Image:Waltham site north.jpeg | View to the north from site.
+Image:Waltham site west.jpeg | View to the west from site.
+Image:Waltham site southeast.jpeg | View to the southeast from site.
 </gallery>
 == Achievements ==
 {{#vardefine:ribbonwidth|100%}}
-<!-- Add any achievement ribbons you earned below, or remove this section -->
+{{Frozen Geohash | latitude = 43 | longitude = -92 | date = 2024-11-20 | name = Kyrkazakh | temperature = -2°C | image = Waltham selfie.jpeg}}
+{{inarow | latitude = 43 | longitude = -92 | date = 2024-11-20 | level = 2 | graticule1 = 44,-93 | graticule2 = 43,-92 | name = Kyrkazakh}}
+{{Minesweeper geohash | graticule = Minneapolis SW, Minnesota | ranknumber = 4 | n = true | w = true | e = true | se = true | name = Kyrkazakh }}
+{{Minesweeper geohash | graticule = St. Paul SE, Minnesota | ranknumber = 3 | nw = true | w = true | s = true | name = Kyrkazakh }}
+{{Minesweeper geohash | graticule = Austin, Minnesota | ranknumber = 2 | nw = true | n = true | name = Kyrkazakh }}
 __NOTOC__
-<!-- =============== USEFUL CATEGORIES FOLLOW ================
-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. -->
 [[Category:New report]]
 [[Category:Expeditions]]
 [[Category:Coordinates reached]]
-<!-- Potential categories. Please include all the ones appropriate to your expedition -->
-<!-- If this is a planning page:
-[[Category:Expedition planning]]
--->
-<!-- An actual expedition:
-[[Category:Expeditions]]
--- and one or more of --
 [[Category:Expeditions with photos]]
-[[Category:Expeditions with videos]]
--->
-<!-- if you reached your coordinates:
-[[Category:Coordinates reached]]
---><!-- or if you did not reach the coordinates:
-[[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]]
-(Don't forget to delete this final close comment marker) -->


Wed 20 Nov 2024 in Austin: 43.8422263, -92.8694804 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox