2013-09-15 45 -123

Sun 15 Sep 2013 in 45,-123: 45.6707949, -123.1776052 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In the woods off Highway 26, near an ODOT station.

Participants

• Michael5000
• Frogman

Plans

Here goes nothing. Michael5000 and Frogman will attempt the hashpoint from Hwy 26 a little after 11 a.m., then head for the Banks/Vernonia Trail.

Expedition

A challenging hashpoint! After driving through a rare Oregon lightning storm west out of Portland, we parked close to the ODOT facility gate, then walked east against heavy traffic on the shoulder of US 26 to get past a swampy area. As it turned out, the problem wasn't swamp, it was a surprisingly steep slope of 1 to 1 or more, upwards through thick forest and windfall. It was a walk of only about 600 feet from the highway, but until close to the end every foot was purchased with quite a bit of exertion.

Once we were at the top, it looked like there might be a more gradual way back down if we took the long way behind and to the east of the ODOT station. That worked like a charm -- highly recommended if anybody makes a late-day stab at this one -- and soon we were celebrating Frogman's conquest of the McMinnville graticule and Washington County, and heading off for a run on the Banks-Vernonia Trail.

Photos

• 

  An example of the terrain we were required to traverse.

• 

  Michael5000 searching for the exact point.

• 

  A little blurry, but here's the proof!

• 

  The hashpoint, roughly.

• 

  We left a marker in case any other intrepid adventurers came by.

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  We found a highway right-of-way sign near the hashpoint.

Achievements

Frogman and Michael5000 earned the Land geohash achievement by reaching the (45, -123) geohash on 2013-09-15.

Michael doesn't think that he deserves this one because he "didn't get hurt" while completing the expedition, which I think is silly because this was a pretty difficult hashpoint to access. Under his definition I qualify for the achievement because my legs got scratched up by thorny vines - I was wearing shorts, while he was wearing sweats. It's probably a little unhealthy that I'm glad I came in shorts so that I qualified for the achievement.

Frogman earned the Velociraptor Geohash Achievement by reaching the (45, -123) geohash for 2013-09-15 with highly visible raptor claw marks.

Next time you'll remember your raptor repellent.

Frogman earned the Regional geohashing achievement by reaching a hash point in all 2 graticules belonging to Washington County, Oregon.