2023-08-19 42 -78

Location

Forest Lawn Cemetery

Participants

Pedalpusher
J

Expedition

Haven't had many accessible opportunities lately, and earlier in the week, I could have claimed a Trail of Blood consolation prize (but nothing was very accessible anyway and that just feels like cheating). I had 'philanthropic' surgery on Tuesday giving up a kidney to my dad so getting out and about will be difficult for the next 2-4 weeks. I've got 3 small holes in my belly and a slit about the size of my pinky finger just below my belt line. While my arms and legs are fine, standing or walking around for any length of time gets a bit painful quickly because you use your core for just about everything.

So given all that, I was very excited to see a hash that was not only close and accessible, but it looked like a very flat piece of Forest Lawn and quite close to the cemetery road. I would probably only have to walk about 30 meters both to the car and then to the hash so I felt this was doable. Also, it was cool to have a hash in Forest Lawn as this is an important local landmark. It's over 200 acres that sort of attaches to the expansive Delaware Park system and 'houses' many famous people (including a US President){1}. Reviewing the Holy hash achievement, I don't think this actually qualifies as the cemetery is not affiliated with any specific religion (sacred but not consecrated) and instead was built as 'a picturesque rural cemetery with its rolling hills and charming valleys, spring-fed lakes, and a meandering creek. He designed roadways that curved and intertwined as freely as the landscape itself.' {2}

The plan was to get there around 16:00 for an Official Saturday meetup, but around 15:30, my mom stopped over to check on me and visited for a bit. That pushed our timeline out so we got there too late for an official meetup, but I'd rather spend some time with family so it doesn't really matter. After she left, I shuffled to the car and J drove us over, trying to avoid the worst bumps in the road. Wearing elastic shorts and sitting in the car, it wasn't actually bad at all, even with the occasional bump. Getting to the cemetery, we pulled in and I directed J around the roads to the hash area. I made my way over toward the hash, but was getting concerned that the hash may be too far into the creek flowing by (steep overgrown banks) and I may not be able to get there after all. Stepping to the edge of the slope, I was able to get a good reading after moving around a bit (probably making J a little nervous, sorry J!) and was able to get some pictures. As I turned around to get a view facing away from the creek, I saw a bunch of deer grazing among the headstones on the other side of the road where we parked which was pretty cool. Walking back toward the car, they were a little concerned about us but they didn't really run away until the geese next to them made some noises and they took a few bounds away from us. Right before getting in the car, we also saw some kind of hawk sitting on a headstone, but it was a little too far to be able to identify.

We could have driven around a bit, but it feels pretty small in a car as it's more designed for walking or biking around anyway. Happy to get out of the house for a bit, we headed back toward home where we had pizza dough waiting for us that I had made in the morning. Pizza night and geohashing always make for a great day.

Photos

Made it!
View South from the hash into the creek.
View East along the creek edge.
View North, and what's this? A bunch of Deer just hanging out.
View West along the creek in the other direction.
J patiently waiting for me as I do the Stupid Grin thing.
Oliver M Bragg and Thomas Dungan almost won the Coffin Potato achievement, but the hash being in the upper left of the image, were about equidistant from the hash and not really at all under it.
There were 5 deer in total hanging out with the geese.