2009-12-04 45 -122

Fri 4 Dec 2009 in 45,-122: 45.3838445, -122.9562416 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

South of Hillsboro, Oregon. Near Hwy 219.

Participants

• Jim

Plans

Jim is going to go see if he can get there before setting up for robotics.

Jim printed out a Google Maps page, but didn't study the data very much.

Expedition

I thought this would be a pretty easy expedition, forgetting about a extension of the stupidity distance: The first 80% of the travel is pretty easy over roads that you probably know well. The next 10% you might want to pay attention to the map. (You did bring a map, didn't you?) The last 10%: well, "what sort of stupid was I to think I didn't need hipwaders/climbing rope/crampons/etc to get to there".

The first part of the trip was nice, and pretty easy. It has been clear for a couple of days, and the area is very pretty. It was below freezing overnight, but the sun was out, so it was clear and crisp. I had a few turnarounds when I got close and I tried to figure out how far down the Hillsboro-Silverton Highway I had to go to get there, but once I turned the correct corner and headed the "unusual" (for me) direction, I found the side road that leads to the hashpoint.

I found a place to park on the side of the road, near to the hashpoint, which is actually unusual in rural Oregon - the side of the road usually had a large ditch that has room for your vehicle, but it will be on its side and everyone will be pretty unhappy.

I walked up the driveway and walked to a nearby house and sought permission to head to the hashpoint. At first no one answered, and I gave up, but as I was walking up the driveway, the door opened and someone looked out.

I explained what I was doing and sought access. At one point, I pointed in what turned out to be the wrong way and said "It's that way about 200 feet". They said I was welcome to look for the hashpoint, but to be wary of the creek as my boots might not be tall enough. I agreed and said if that looked like the situation, I'd decline and declare it a possible gator-infested zone. Of course, last nights freezing temps might make a gator have second thoughts about the area.

I returned to my car for taller boots and headed into their backyard. I headed up to the rim of what looked like a chasm thought: "It's in that pond". Then I looked at the GPS. It was pointing away from the pond. Score!

But it was still into the chasm. I slowly made my way down, thinking that I need to get a walking stick or something like that for these hikes. I headed down, and the distance ticked down, but it wasn't very stable. Finally, I realized that the trees were thicker than I was thinking and I was getting a poor signal. I wandered around a little and found that I couldn't get closer than about 20 feet without the GPS pointing randomly in a different direction, so I declared the point located. Then I had to find my way back up the slope, but usually going up a slope is easier than going down.

I took some photos and headed back to the car. I changed shoes and headed off to do errands before helping setup for the local FIRST Lego League robotics competition.

Photos

I have a few, but need to upload them