Vancouver, British Columbia

Cortes Island	Brandywine	Whistler
Port Alberni	Vancouver	Surrey
Lake Cowichan	Victoria	Bellingham, Washington
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The Vancouver, British Columbia graticule is at latitude 49, longitude -123. It encompasses the western half of Metro Vancouver (including all of West Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond and South Delta; most of North Vancouver; and part of Burnaby), as well as Howe Sound, most of the Sunshine Coast, and Nanaimo.

Link to the graticule on the coordinate calculator

Description

Roughly half of this graticule is accessible only by logging roads west of Howe Sound, and another third is in the Strait of Georgia. Comparatively little land (approximately 7.5% of the graticule) is in the populated regions around Nanaimo and Vancouver, and along the coast. Much of the forested land closest to the city is closed to public access because it falls within the city watershed, to protect drinking water. Depending where the geohash falls on any particular day, Nanaimo residents might find it easier to reach the meetup in the neighbouring Victoria graticule (48, -123), and Vancouver residents the meetup in the neighbouring Surrey graticule (49, -122).

Robyn did a project to examine what it would take to reach every geohash in Vancouver for a month. Some of the research may help you finding access to geohashes in the area.

Some stats: 60% of the graticule is under 1000ft in altitude, with 40% at sea level. The max altitude is 6630ft, average altitude is 1411ft, standard deviation is 1821ft.

There is a mailing list for Vancouver-area geohashers, announcing when group expeditions are being planned. This is recommended for Vancouverites who don't check the coordinates every day, but still would like to know when things are happening.

Guidelines

What you can expect from Vancouver-area geohashing:

• If the geohash falls on any land point from West Vancouver to Delta (i.e. in the south half and extreme east segment), and there are roads going near there, you can pretty much count on someone being there, even on weekdays.
• If the geohash falls on a water point that is not very far (let's say a couple km) from a viable land point (more viable than in any of the other graticules), then kayak rental is in order.
• If it's as far north as Squamish or farther, it starts to get iffy just because it's far.
• We're starting to explore the mountains, if the point isn't too far from a road.
• If the Vancouver geohash yields an inaccessible point (water, mountainous terrain with no road, small island with no ferry, unreachable segment of the Sunshine Coast), then we might try the Surrey graticule.
• Many northern points will be inaccessible in both of those graticules; adventurous folks should check the Victoria graticule.
• Failing all these, some people cross the border to the Bellingham graticule.
• Natives of this graticule are absolutely nuts, happily travelling (often biking!) to Port Alberni, the North Cascades and Germany. Geography will not thwart us.
• Vancouver has only had one successful meetup at a designated alternate, but it was a lot of fun so we might do it again.

For those with Facebook accounts, a group has been created here, but hardly anyone uses it.

The best places to look for planned expeditions in this graticule are on the Talk page and on the actual Meetup pages for the specific date, e.g. 2009-04-03 49 -123. That page can be reached (or created) by clicking the Meetup link on from the coordinate calculator, linked below.

Link to the graticule on the coordinate calculator

Participants

Everyone who has expressed intent to geohash in the Vancouver graticule, including some who live in neighbouring graticules or who are still waiting for their first opportunity to geohash. Names in bold are active, having been sighted at a geohash or filed an expedition report since November 2008.

• Arbron - here or there
• DaMaN
• Elbie - when weather permits for biking
• Gavitron - nope
• HollyB - when near SFU or transit
• Jaem - when Homework permits (or when I override Homework's decision)
• Jakke - probably the Surrey square, due to more transit and less sharks
• Juventas - visits occasionally
• MaxK - When it's accessible on land.
• MegaHurtz - Surrey square
• MylSh - Mainly by transit
• Naturalnumber - Occasionally
• Nigma
• Onemanbucket
• Osmie
• plannedrefusal
• plypkie - i'm in for cycling, or small (3 person) sailboat rental
• Queerasmoi - perhaps
• Rhonda - Wherever and whenever.
• Robyn - Out of town literally more than half the time, but geohashes here when able.
• Sparkamusprime - if I can get there, I'll be there. Rawr!
• srs0 - When it's not over water, otherwise occasionally the Surrey and/or Victoria regions.
• Straylight
• SueB - will pop over to Vancouver Graticule when the hashpoint is right.
• thepiguy - Cyclist supreme, and he can kayak, too.
• Toddalert - can't swim
• twilightcity - geo-geek with steed.
• Wade - When it's easy, or when Robyn shames me into going anyway.
• Xore - From thin air. Or the bus.
• yangman - By bike and transit from the mystical land of Burquitlam

Upcoming Dates

We try to reach all accessible points in the graticule, regardless of the date.

Check the discussion page for specific information on planned meet-ups.

Achieved (plus some Attempted & Alternate) Geohashes 2009

This lists geohashes in the Vancouver graticule itself.

• Saturday 2009-07-11 - Eight geohashers in six different watercraft (one constructed in situ) met at and near a Burrard Inlet waterhash.
• Friday 2009-07-10 - In a creek at the bottom of a ravine near the Seymour River. Three attended.
• Friday 2009-06-12 - An alternate at a public geohashing lecture at UBC.
• Tuesday 2009-06-09 - A solo to 400 m short of a no-public-access geohash in a waterfowl nesting preserve.
• Saturday 2009-06-06 - A solo expedition to Britannia Beach 1.69 km short of the water coordinates.
• Wednesday 2009-06-03 - Five met for some tree-climbing in East Van.
• Saturday 2009-05-23 - Eight met at the Mouseover Day designated alternate of Canada Place.
• Tuesday 2009-05-12 - Windy day public transit kayak hash, very close to Gambier Island. Two attended.
• Saturday 2009-04-25 - Laid-back picnic geohash on Gambier Island. Three attended.
• Wednesday 2009-04-08 - Middle of Howe Sound in inflatable kayaks. Two attended.
• Monday 2009-03-09 - Parking lot behind CIBC at Knight & Kingsway. Four attended.
• Thursday 2009-03-05 - A swing set in an urban park on a chilly Thursday evening. Four attended.
• Tuesday 2009-02-10 - Near Skytrain. Nabbed by thepiguy.
• Saturday 2009-01-24 - Robyn, Twilightcity and Adrian met at a llama farm on Bowen Island.
• Saturday 2009-01-17 - Achieved by thepiguy in North Vancouver.

The list of 2008 Vancouver Expeditions have been moved to their own page to make room for 2009.

Many people from Vancouver have also been to geohashes in the surrounding graticules. See the user pages linked under Participants, above. For a list of all Vancouver expeditions, successful and otherwise, see Category:Meetup in 49 -123.

Notable Dates

Graticule firsts, records, and other notables.

• Saturday 2009-05-23: Vancouver record of eight attendees at a meetup.
• Monday, 2009-03-09: First Vancouver geohash featuring a meeting of three separate expeditions.
• Sunday, 2008-12-21: thepiguy biked his way through a Richmond blizzard. Coldest Vancouver geohash to date at -1C.
• Thursday, 2008-09-25:Robyn, HollyB, DaleF and Jaem arrived on different buses and left on the same one. thepiguy stopped by earlier in the day. Set the record for five people visiting the same geohash during the day.
• Sunday, 2008-09-21: Robyn, thepiguy, and srs0 stopped by for the graticule's first water geohash!
• Monday, 2008-08-18: thepiguy and a van full of friends went at took some pictures by the side of the road in Tsawwassen. Set the record for four people at the hash at once.
• Sunday, 2008-08-17: thepiguy and Straylight were both in North Van. Just 12 hours apart! First hash visited by two separate expeditions.
• Tuesday, 2008-05-27: First successful geohash in the graticule. Reached by thepiguy and srs0.
• Saturday, 2008-05-24: First Saturday since geohashing comic. The Vancouver graticule yielded a point in the Georgia Strait, which no one visited.

Activity Ribbons

The Vancouver, British Columbia graticule (49 -123) earned the Mostly Active Graticule achievement for the month of August 2008 in the category coordinates reached by being the location of 4 successful expeditions.

The Vancouver, British Columbia graticule (49 -123) earned the Mostly Active Graticule achievement for the month of September 2008 in the category coordinates reached by being the location of 4 successful expeditions.

The Vancouver, British Columbia graticule (49 -123) earned the Mostly Active Graticule achievement for the month of December 2008 in the category coordinates reached by being the location of 4 successful expeditions.