2021-02-14 53 9
| Sun 14 Feb 2021 in 53,9: 53.7947251, 9.6760377 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
on a small pond underneath a tree between two fields in Klein Offenseth-Sparrieshoop, Schleswig-Holstein
Participants
Expedition
I'd wanted to go to 2021-02-10 53 9 south of the Elbe four days previously, but then didn't because I wasn't sure the buses and/or ferry would operate reliably due to the snow. So I was happy to see that this hash was reachable, because I was hoping for my first Frozen Geohash in my third winter of geohashing. The day before, it was -7 °C.
I took the A3 train to Sparrieshoop, which only runs every two hours, and got off half an hour later. Then I cycled 1.7 km to the hash, which was located right at the corner of three fields. I walked 200 m along the hedge bank and was surprised by the amount of animal footprints in the only around 5 cm deep snow – they were all over, and from a bunch of different species too. I even saw a rabbit at the far edge of the field. When I arrived near the hashpoint, I noticed it was located in a ca. 1 m deep depression right underneath a tree. I went down and, to my great surprise and delight, found out that it was actually a small frozen pond around 4 m across! This wasn't apparent from the satellite maps (and also extremely unlikely), but meant that I could claim new achievements, so I was thrilled. As far as I could tell, the pond was frozen to the ground, so there was absolutely no danger. I took the usual pictures and shoved the snow away so I could see the ice.
On my way back, I took some more pictures of the footprints and the snow (I'm a huge snow enthusiast). I looked up the temperature online and, to my disappointment, it said 0 °C – I think this means "somewhere between 0.0 and 1.0 degrees", as opposed to "0 degrees to the nearest whole degree", so I won't claim the Frozen achievement. My bike speedometer, which is also a thermometer, was of no use because it takes a long time to adjust to new temperatures and still wasn't done when I set off. Oh well, maybe next winter (or, with luck, in the next few weeks). I cycled back to the station, passing many pedestrians, and only had to wait a few minutes for my train home – the times were extremely convenient, and I wouldn't have gone for the hash if I had had to wait outside for a long time.
Photos
coords
proof
so close!
π π π …
… on a frozen pond!
hard to see, but …
… it is indeed ice!
now you see it
animal tracks everywhere
across the entire field
a hare?
undisturbed snow
nice reflections
Achievements
Bicycle geohash, Public transport geohash, probably Land geohash, possibly Water geohash
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π π π earned the Walking on water geohash achievement
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I'm not sure if this counts as a Water Geohash. There is nothing in the requirements that disqualifies it, but I'd still feel weird claiming it. It says "The body of water has to be of sufficient depth and size to qualify as a Water Geohash" on Walking on water geohash achievement, but then there are no such specifications on the Water Geohash page. Still, I'm pretty comfortable claiming the former, because I did walk on solid water at the geohash.
I was told every geohash has to be either land, water, or air, but as Wikipedia describes land as "not permanently covered by water", I have no idea how a geohash in shallow water (that doesn't qualify as a Water Geohash) would be classified. Perhaps a new Standing in Water Geohash achievement is needed. But since it's very possible that this pond dries up in the summer when it's hot and hasn't rained in weeks, I feel all right declaring this a Land Geohash. Though I'm sure I broke some rule by claiming the Walking on Water, but not the Water Geohash, as that is clearly not how it was intended.
