2017-10-16 31 35

Mon 16 Oct 2017 in 31,35: 31.7942346, 35.5443808 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

800 meters southwest of the Abdullah Bridge. 381 meters below sea level. If successful the trip will be the lowest hash ever.

Participants

Yosef (talk), and whoever is fast enough to get in touch with me to come.

Plans

I've already called the army base nearby and they are working on coming up with an entrance permit to the area. I don't know if they will say yes and I don't know how I feel about just showing up. I plan on taking the 961 bus from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station at 7 AM to Beit haArava Junction and from there walk/run 5-6 kilometers to the hashpoint. There should be some hitches/buses back to Jerusalem after a nice long hike back.

Something About the Army that I Forgot

For all of its successes the Israeli Army is actually quite disorganized. When I was a soldier we would make bets about how late something would be because lots of things didn't work in the army.

Expedition

I didn't get a call from the Army that I was allowed to come until the next morning. I had already went on a trip that day and I came back to see that I had a call. They asked me why I didn't come. I said I never received permission. They said I should come. I talked with about four different people. In the end one said I shouldn't come and the trip was canceled. I decided to go to the bus station. The 961 was full so I had to wait for the 966. Instead of waiting I took the trolley to Ammunition Hill and then walked to a hitching post at Wadi Joz. On my way to the hitching post I saw the 966 bus that I didn't want to wait for so I pushed a good two block jaywalking sprint and was able to catch the bus to Beit Arava Junction. From there I walked about three kilometers to the gate. I called the base. They said I had to wait for the patrolling soldiers to open it for me because they were busy. I decided to wait and read a sign that there are numerous mines in the security zone that I wanted to enter and that while all of the paths were likely safe, mines sometimes shift location. That was comforting. I waited an hour and then called again. After some back and forth we agreed that it was impractical and I turned around.

I walked to Beit Arava Junction, hitched with a libertarian mover who swore a lot, and liked reading Ashlag Jewish mysticism. I helped him move a bed and then he drove me to my neighborhood.

It was a long and unsuccessful trip. That's what you get for relying on the army.

Achievements

No trespassing.