2011-03-12 45 -122

Location

A field near Vancouver, Washington right near a housing development

Participants

Jim

Plans

I have some errands to run, and then might run up there to see if I can get to the hashpoint.

Expedition

Well, after my errand, I headed up north of Portland to hunt for the hashpoint. After I crossed the Columbia River, I rechecked my directions and went up a few exits and got off the highway. I headed down a cross street which kept changing names without taking a turn - it was enough to make me think I was in New England.

Finally, I zipped past a little side street which turned out to be the one I wanted. I headed back and went the right way. Eventually the GPS reported we were 150 feet away. And there was a fence in the way.

I parked and looked over the situation. There was a gap between the houses, as Google Maps showed me, but there was no access from this side, as far as I could tell. I asked a neighbor who was getting into his car about access to the field, and he directed me to a house over a few streets.

I went to the house I thought I should, and walked up and knocked on the door. No answer.

I gave up and walked back to the car. Then I looked more closely at the field layout, and realized that maybe there was a different house to check with. I walked back to the main street from the cul-de-sac I was on and knocked on the door there. Still no answer.

As I turned to leave, a young woman emerged from the back of the house saying I was knocking at the door they didn't use. I explained what I was on a scavenger hunt, and that I wanted to their field. She said it belonged to the person who lived inside, and it was fine for me to go in.

So, I returned to the car, and switched to my Muck Boots, which proved to be a wise choice. I headed into what I thought was the field with a spring in my step, because I was going to get to a hashpoint for once. But it soon became very muddy and then very wet. Luckily, when one is wearing Muck Boots, one doesn't worry about such things. Soon I looked to my left, and realized there was a second field. Which belonged to the house I had first tried. I had a sinking feeling, and it wasn't from standing in a muddy field.

As I got to the end of the field, I looked at the GPS, hoping against hope. It was still about a hundred feet - back towards the street I had came from. The hashpoint really was in the "inbetween" field.

I took a picture of the gate from the front of the neighboring property back into the field that was holding the hashpoint and returned to my car. And drove back home.