2022-06-04 53 6

Location

Just south of Ten Boer, along the Damsterdiep in an area with some trees.

Participants

Shevek (talk)
Kailashka and her son

Plans

Shevek will go by bike, Kailashka and her son come by car. We'll meet, take some pictures, and leave again.

Expedition

Shevek arrived first and found that the trees that were visible on the satellite images were more of an obstacle than they seemed at first. Not only that, but he had missed the fact that there was a ditch around them. And what could not be seen on the image, was that there was a wall of earth on the other side of the ditch, making it hard to enter the area with the trees.

On top of that, Shevek wasn't entirely sure if he was even allowed to enter. So he went around the area to find an entrance, where there could be a sign describing whether people were allowed in or not. To his relief, there was an entrance and it did not have any sign to prevent access. So the law was no obstacle. That left only nature, which turned out to be enough of a challenge.

When Kailashka arrived, she did not immediately see him, because he had gone to the entrance of the area on the other side. They texted and she went to look for the next entrance to the wood. There he was, standing at the side of the road. She parked her car more properly than she had initially done, to allow other cars (or more likely, tractors) to pass while they were away.

Off they went. As usual Kailashka was barefoot, considering she always goes barefoot. It did not take very long before she realized some kind of shoes would have been a good idea, since the woods were overgrown with blackberry bushes, not very foot friendly material, to say the least.

Nevertheless the small expedition was able to get through the bushes to enter the woods. There it soon became clear that the bravest one would come the fartest. The trees had gone to great lengths not to let any living being inside their territory, by growing low by the ground and even take the effort to lie down, with or without connection to the living part of it. The expedition however had seen these type of woods before and fearless the three of them carried on, only stopping to check the route they had to go.

And so, after a long, scary (although it appeared harmless, the ground was very soft and wet close to what could be a swamp), prickly journey Shevek confirmed they had reached the hash!

The cheers and hurrah's where probably alarming for the woods, because now the road back was blocked and the only solution to get out of the woods was towards the dismissed water, which formed a wide ditch.

The expedition continued bravely.

After several minutes - it seemed like hours - the end of the woods were reached and the climb off the slope towards the water could start. Now the real struggle started. They totally had overlooked the presence of a velociraptor! Kailashka gave a loud yell when it attacked her, startling him as much that he went away before a camera could capture him. Her thumb was covered in blood however.

In spite of this unfortunate event it turned out to be possible to overcome the ditch. Without too much of their bodies injured and/or wet the expedition walked safely back to their vehicles and could return home.

This was a day to never forget!

Photos

The entrance to the hash was heavily fortified, with a moat and raptors (in hiding).
Luckily there was no sign to keep us out!
Walking barefoot is normally not a problem, but in this case it added significantly to the challenge.
Kailashka's thumb was damaged by a velociraptor.
We arrived at the hash.