2008-06-15 37 -121

Sun 15 Jun 2008 in San Jose, California: 37.4753808, -121.7612767 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Logistics

The San Jose meetup for this date appears to be in the Milpitas hills, right on the shoulder of one of the roads randomly snaking its way through said hills. Er... in theory, anyway. In one of Google Maps' views, there is an honest-to-gosh named road that one can traverse to the geohash location; try to get driving directions to the hash point, though, and you're given truncated instructions, aborted several miles short of the desired point in question. (Satellite evidence is available but inconclusive.) I'm willing to give it a go, though, assuming that there is nothing uber-scary en route likely to destroy the transmission of my low-slung vehicle of choice.

I'll probably try making my way towards the location sometime between late morning and mid-afternoon, depending on just how energetic I feel come morning. I'll give this page an eyeball beforehand, just in case someone wants to come with and have a go at things, carpool style. --Youhas 10:12, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

After looking at it from several angles (the hash is in roughly the same spot as last Wednesday, when I spent a bunch of time on GM, GE, Mapquest, etc), I'm fairly certain the "road" stops just past a house on Marsh Road, about two and a half miles as the crow flies from the target. Those two and a half miles include a ~1700 foot climb to get up into the hills. Should be fun, assuming no shotguns are present. There's an alternate approach possible if one is willing to hike a while (and get a backpacking permit) through EBMUD lands and the Sunol Regional Wilderness down to Camp Ohlone, which is just a mile or so away from the point (and already in the hills, well away from any vehicular traffic). Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make it; but I'd love to hear from those who try! --Tapin 17:46, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, I got first-hand confirmation that as far as automotive access is concerned, Marsh Road effectively does terminate - you run headlong into a chain-link fence right next to what claims to be the entrance to a livestock ranch, with no obvious routes to progress. (Assuming I parsed the signs correctly - ain't nothin' labeled worth a damn in this general area. Even the "Marsh Road" sign itself was done by hand, on plywood.) Didn't think to verify on the GPS that this is precisely where Google Maps claims that the road terminates, but it seemed about right. Between the plentiful "No Trespassing" / "No Hunting" / "No Stopping" signs dotting the fences and the "Beware of Dog" warning en route to the ranch, didn't really feel like pressing my luck by trying to hunt down a local and ask them about access or otherwise sussing things out.

At least it's a very pretty drive, though. There were numerous cows right alongside the road, horses visible in the distance, and both turkey vultures and miscellaneous rodents to be seen in spades. You also get some above-average views of the Calaveras Reservoir on the way back, too. I've had worse half-hours. :-) --Youhas 23:52, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

I never saw the beware of dog sign, but we did run into the bright orange "SFWD" signs at the end of the road. So close (got there about 5, got lost and went up Felter too far). --Jakobo 18:50, 16 June 2008 (UTC)