2013-05-17 44 -116

Location

In the hills northwest of Midvale, ID

Participants

Eldin

Plans

When I got off work early, and saw that this one was likely reachable, I decided to try for it. I've been wanting to hit a hash here since this graticule has already defeated me twice.

Expedition

After getting home from work, I set out for the hashpoint. It was a pleasant drive up to the area of the hash, though I did pass through a significant rainstorm. I found a place to park about a mile from the hash, and set off walking. There was a fence, but it was in poor repair, so it was easy to cross. There were no signs prohibiting entry. The I walked about a mile to reach the hashpoint. I encountered a number of cows while in route, but they all ignored or avoided me. The rainstorm I drove through on my way had been here maybe an hour prior to my arrival, so the ground was a bit muddy. And the terrain was a bit steep in places (there was about 700ft of vertical rise between where I parked and the hash). There were quite a few stands of chokecherry trees in the area, which makes it odd that they were keeping cows there, since the leaves are poisonous. They won't really harm an adult cow, but they can kill calves, and cause significant birth defects or stillbirth if pregnant cows eat them. Eventually, I arrived at the coordinates. Tired and a bit out of breath, but thrilled to have finally reached a hash in this graticule. I took some pictures, posted about my success, and then headed back down to where I had parked. On the way back down I called my wife to to share my success, though she was predictably somewhat less excited by it than me. It was a fun expedition, and a good workout. And very exciting to finally have success in this graticule which has proven a challenge in the past.