2012-04-29 53 6

Sun 29 Apr 2012 in 53,6: 53.4091492, 6.2376230 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Lauwersmeer, a nature area close to the village of Lauwersmeer. The actual hash is a few meters away from a path.

Participants

Elwingelfje

Plans

Go to Lauwersoog by car (I don't even know if you can get there by bus) and then take a walk towards the hash. Also, walk on the dike.

Expedition

I drove from Groningen up to the port of Lauwersoog, where I parked my car. The idea was to continue from there to the hashpoint on foot. Quite feasible. When studying the maps I had wondered why the forest there had so many paths. Coming closer, I realized why: the hashpoint was in the middle of a military practice terrain, mainly used for shooting exercises. I'll admit it was not forbidden to access. However, on the way there I encountered signs of an increasingly alarming nature (and photographed a few of them). Most of them had a message something like: "Hey, did you know this is military terrain? Oh, that doesn't mean you can't enter; do so by any means. But maybe it's good to know that we shoot here on a regular basis, with bullets, and if you're here at the wrong time you might just get hit. That time is not now. You might find the bullets though. Don't pick them up, for it could kill you." For a while I trudged on, along an asphalt road. Then a bicycle path curved off into the forest, which I followed. I had to turn left at an (opened) fence and the largest and most-menacing looking sign yet, warning me to approach under no circumstance the buildings in this area (though it wasn't forbidden to go on). Here I didn't really dare to go on as I wasn't too sure it was allowed, and I was a little scared of getting shot or exploding on a hidden landmine. Also I was a bit pressed for time as I still had to work in the afternoon. I walked back through a nice green forested area and passed a really cool wooden pedestrian bridge over the highway. I came back to my car and ate some lunch on a picknick bench next to a playground, then left for work.

Pictures coming later.

Achievements

elwingelfje earned the Prize poultry Consolation Prize by chickening out on the (53.4091492, 6.2376230) geohash on 2012-04-29 because of threatening-looking signs of a military nature.