2015-11-20 47 19

Location

In a park in Újhegy, Budapest.

Participants

Plans

This looked like a good opportunity for a Tron achievement, being accessible from my apartment along a few completely separate public-transit routes. So I decided to head out there on the metro and come back on the tram.

Expedition

The outbound ride worked out fine: as I'd hoped, transferring from trolleybus to metro to tram to other metro, then leaving the Kőbánya-Kispest terminal metro station, was achievable without crossing my path (though there was a scare when I mistook a dead end for an exit, which I resolved by hugging the wall on the way back). Of course, this route was mostly underground, so I didn't get a good GPS tracklog.

Unfortunately, I messed up on the walk from there to the geohash by failing to recognize the south side of the relevant green space until after I had already passed it. So, intent on preserving the Tron, I looped around to the north side, intending to step into the park, collect, and step out before heading further north to the route home. This plan foundered on the discovery that the north side of the park was fenced off.

I did find an open gate and so entered, reaching the hashpoint (success!). But there weren't any others on the north side. In total, I counted three passages between the lot and the rest of the world: the gate I had used to get in, a gate I had walked right past on my way to the hash, and a hole in the chain-link fence communicating with the end of a driveway for the next lot over. I couldn't see where I could go from that pocket: the east side was my entry, the north side a closed auto gate, the west side a barbed-wire fence, and the south side, the connection to the street, blocked by my outbound path. But it was my only way forward, so I went in there to ponder my next steps.

A man appeared within the fenced-off lot, I assume a weekend security guard. I realized that my Tron attempt, if it was still possible, was entirely within his hands, as it was only with his aid that I could pass through the gate and then, perhaps, to freedom. I waved him over and asked if I could go in.

He said no.

So I abandoned the Tron and returned home the way I had come, disappointed at how much my GPS battery had been worn down by the continuous use.