2016-06-12 global
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Globalhash on Sun 12 Jun 2016: |
Location
About 2 km north of Douglass, Butler County, Kansas, USA. The hash location was located at the edge of a forest and cornfield near the Walnut and Little Walnut rivers.
Participants
Plans
Any Midwestern/Southern hashers planning to go? I'm 6 hours away, one way, so not sure... -Chandru
I (thunk) am spending the summer away at my university doing research. I have a car, lots of free time, and a fondness for "go to this place on a map"-type adventures. Then I remembered about geohashing, and decided to try my hand at it as I have never done so myself.
I looked at the regular hashes for the last week. None seemed too promising, as they were mostly in various wheat fields (common in this region) that are often fenced off, and the neighbors do not take kindly to trespassing.
This weekend, I looked again, when to my surprise I found that the globalhash for the 12th was less than 300 km from my location. I immediately made plans for the trip. Satellite imagery confirmed that the hash location was in a forest next to two rivers, so stood less chance of being in an impenetrable field of private property.
Expedition
Gathering my belongings, I left my location in the Oklahoma City graticule at about 10:45 am local time, in rain which soon gave way to sun as I headed north. The drive through Oklahoma was uneventful. In a fit of shunpiking, I left the Kansas Turnpike soon after the state line, and stopped to take a break in Arkansas City. From there, US-77 North took me to Douglass. During this portion of the trip, I began to have second thoughts. The Flint Hills' rocky soil means there are many ranches in this area, which are fenced off and thus not amenable for geohashing. Yet I continued and somehow managed to get lost in Douglass, but eventually found the side road leading to the hashpoint, which soon became a gravel road.
Parking about 800 m away from the actual point near a grain silo, I walked along the road for another 600 m, after which I went west along a property boundary between some orchards to the north and a fallow field to the south. The orchards gave way to a cornfield, and the empty field to the woods along the Walnut River. Continuing along the boundary left me 3 m from the hashpoint, which I dutifully completed while gazing south at a nearby creek.
After a few pictures, it was time to head onwards. The regular hashpoint for the Wichita graticule (37 -97) was thankfully not in a wheatfield, so that was my next destination. Driving north on US-77 to US-400 west to the KS-96 beltway around Wichita got me close. Just then, a surprise thunderstorm occurred, and I parked next to a Whole Foods 200 m east of the point (on the corner of 13th St N and Webb Rd in Wichita) while waiting out the storm (and thus failing to achieve Drowned Rat status). As the rain died down, I walked the distance, and found the hashpoint just outside the entrance to a large gated building, which I mistakenly assumed was a golf course. 5 m south and Speed Racer would have been attainable. Ah well.
It was now time for lunch, which I dutifully ate at a local barbecue restaurant. Afterwards, I decided to explore the center of Wichita, which sadly had not very much interesting except a small museum which was about to close.
The return trip did not involve shunpiking, and so it did involve me clumsily emptying out my pockets while driving to find $2.25. Attempting to extend my multi-hash streak, I left I-35 in the direction of Ponca City, OK, and the hashpoint in the (36 -97) graticule. This point was about 2 miles north of US 60 along a dirt road. Of course, it was in an (unfenced) wheat field. I decided not to illicitly traipse 150 m of wheat, and headed home, deciding not to pursue the fourth point I had planned for that day, near Luther, OK. After dinner, I arrived back at my university at about 8 pm, with my first two successful geohashes.
Photos
Looking south, toward some forest and a creek.
Looking east, towards the gravel road. There is a farmhouse in the distance.
Looking north, towards the cornfield.
Proof, from Geohash Droid on my phone.
Achievements
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thunk earned the Globalhash achievement
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