2009-01-02 49 10
| Fri 2 Jan 2009 in Bamberg, Germany: 49.1995170, 10.0589406 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
About
The hash is right in the middle between the villages of Wallhausen and Gröningen (Satteldorf community), district of Schwäbisch Hall. It's one of the easternmost places of the Hohenlohe region.
Expedition: Ekorren
Have ticket, will travel.
For some reason ;) I had a Baden-Württemberg-Ticket - that's a daypass for all local transport in the state of Baden-Württemberg - and no fixed plans what to do with it. So, could there be a better plan than visiting one or two hashes in graticules too far to go by bike? So when the appropriate hash o'clock advanced, the suspense got unbearable. Luckily, this was already on wednesday, as on Jan 1st the stock exchange people are too busy mourning that they haven't earned still even more money in the last year and the exchange is closed.
Hash o'clock came, and it was disappointing on a first view. The southern and western graticules brought hashpoints far from reach in Switzerland and France, the central ones I'm visiting often enough anyway. There remained three points, and none of them looked particulary interesting. I spent considerable parts of thursday trying to squeeze a multihash into the schedule, finally succeeded with a double hash plan and after that - discarded the idea.
After all, geohashing is about discovering the unknown, about expeditions to places one would never go otherwise, seeing what there is to see - so, staying on trains all day except of a race from the station to some point in the landscape and back to the station to catch the next train isn't really satisfying. I still had to choose one of the three points. And did so mostly by the chances to get into the same area ever again, and they seemed to be definitely higher on the other two.
On hashday, I got up early, and started by bus, as this allowed me to start earlier than the ticket allowed for a small supplement, which would have been considerably higher on the train. Noone seemed to be working that day, and the streets were unbelievable empty for a weekday morning. This was a good thing as it reduced the risk of any transport being late considerably. Changed to a local train at Leinfelden, twice more during the morning, and reached Crailsheim... two and a half minutes before schedule. How that? Usually trains haven't timetables which allow them to go any faster than planned. This one had. (I found later that the timetable obviously was calculated for an old class 628 trainset, which is known for giving the word acceleration an ignorant hum).
I had planned to do some running at Crailsheim - to catch a bus only four minutes after train arrival, which is less than half the time set as a minimum in the timetable information systems. With six minutes at hand, this got a comfortable fast walk. About twenty minutes to twelve, I got off the bus at the stop nearest to the hashpoint: Old brewery, Satteldorf-Gröningen. A village so dead that there was not even a bakery to find. And I was hungry. A village so unknown, that OSM yet not even knows its name. I need to change that as soon as I get along with those editors.
A nice walk began, leading out of the village through the hills, and easily near the hash. Which unexpectedly was not on a field. But in some kind of tree plantation - whatever it is they do there, these trees are planted absolutely accurately in double rows. After some failed attempts I finally got into the right row, made a proof photo and left a marker. Due to lack of any kind of food in my luggage, the plans for a picnic achievement were to be called obsolete.
Now to explore the surroundings. I wouldn't probably catch the next bus back from Gröningen anyway, so there was no reason to hurry. I had heard about some sight in about one kilometre distance, and also a rather old geocache, so I walked on. The sight turned out to be a single piece of a thick and high wall just in the middle of a field. Nothing else. Which was weird. Pictures here
A very narrow road led from there to the next village, where I arrived just two minutes before a bus went back to Crailsheim. Back at Crailsheim I found that this town isn't really worth seeing. Unlike Kirchberg, where I went next (and stood much longer than intended because some *censored* bus driver forgot the stop from where I wanted to leave), and Bad Mergentheim, where I had a stopover in the evening.
The hash had done its purpose - leading me into an unknown area, where I probably would never have gone, showing me places I'd never have seen. And it was totally worth it.
Gröningen
A view from near Gröningen to the hash (it's on the last visible hill)
A view from near the hash to Gröningen
Somewhere in there
Here it is
Proof.
Hashcard Received. Adelaide, Australia
This hashcard (sent on the second) arrived sometime between when I left the state on the 3rd and when I got back on the 18th. It has sat in my drawer among my other mail since then, but it's time its sender got the recognition he deserves. It was so cool to get a card from the other side of the world, and I hope sometime to return the favour. Regards, UnwiseOwl 14:46, 21 February 2009 (UTC).
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ekorren earned the Hashcard achievement
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