| Wed 2 Nov 2022 in 46,6: 46.6594386, 6.8326221 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
Ursy, Switzerland.
Participants
Expedition
I was in Lausanne during this day, and I saw during the morning that the hashpoint wasn't too far from there, it would only take me one hour by train to attain Moudon, and then I could walk to the hashpoint. I didn't check how much time it would take to the walking part, it seemed close enough on the map. I arrive at Moudon at 4.45 pm, and then I finally check how much time it would take to walk. One hour, tells me Google Map. Hum, that's not convenient, I will be late for dinner. I don't realize at this moment what it really means: that I'm beginning a real journey without water or lamp, and because we are in November, the sun will soon disappear. I'm still decided to achieve my goal, and I begin to walk up a hill, in the forest. I go out of the forest at 5.20 pm, and I arrive at a small village called Chavannes-sur-Moudon.
I continue between the fields, while the sun sets.
I begin to worry a bit, but not enough in retrospect. I finally arrive at the forest containing the hashpoint, which of course is on a slope, and I begin to climb. No path, of course. At 5.24 pm, I send this final message to my friends: "Je suis dans le noir au milieu de la forêt", which means "I'm in the dark in the middle of the forest".
Then my phone goes from 15% battery to 0, and shuts down. Well, the rescue team will have a bit of trouble finding me with just that information. So now I'm in the dark, still trying to climb because I won't be stopped so easily, and finally I arrive at a path in the forest. I try to turn on my telephone, and it works! It is at 2% though. I run the app to see the hashpoint, and I'm at only 70 meters from it!
I begin to run in direction of the point, and as I finally arrive close enough, my phone shuts down again. Okay, no good proof that I got the point this time. I climb down, in the dark, and this time I use a field just next to the forest, so it is easier, but sadly at some point I slide a bit on something, and I'm pretty sure that was some cow dung. That's a Swiss adventure, after all. I begin to worry about how I will find my way back to Moudon without map, because I don't know the region at all, it's the night, and my sense of direction is really bad. What I am going to do? I need some help. I see a house, and check by the window what it looks like inside. It seems bright, nice, tidy. I gather my courage, and rings the doorbell. I explain my situation (minus the hashpoint part, to not seem even weirder) to a woman and ask if I can charge my phone at their home. She first looks me weirdly (I mean, it's the night in the middle of nowhere, it's normal to be a bit suspicious) and then let me inside. The family was bout to eat, and they propose me some salad. I accept, grateful. I'm quite shy, and I stay mostly silent. When my plate is empty, I check my phone. 12%, that will suffice. I thank them again, and go back into the night. There's a bus stop not far from the house, and when I check it, I see that I missed a bus 5 minutes ago which was going to Moudon. Damn it. So I walk to Chavannes-sur-Moudon, and decide that the path I took earlier would be too hard to find and follow during the night, and decide to go around the forest separating Chavannes-sur-Moundon and Moudon, following a main route. That was a stupid idea, the route was done for vehicules, not walking humans. So I walk for 30 minutes next to a route, having some light only when a car is passing, because I don't dare to use the flashlight of my phone.
Finally, I arrive at the train station of Moudon at 7.30 pm, and the rest of the trip will be without trouble. And I'm really tired.
