2010-07-04 49 -123

Welcome to a busy little corner of the train station parking lot. Will Vancouver set another graticule attendance record?

Sun 4 Jul 2010 in 49,-123: 49.2742172, -123.0983293 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In the parking lot in front of Pacific Central Station.

Participants

• a mystery person who made the first chalk mark (finally revealed to be pi)
• Robyn
• Wade
• Wenslayer's father
• Wenslayer's mother
• Holly
• Dale
• Robin (Holly's +1)
• Rhonda
• User:thepiguy
• User:Xore

• Wenslayer - Puppet Master

Regretful those that didn't make it

• air384 - had to write a paper
• srs0 - had study group
• Elbie - had to do stuff for work
• yangman - Had an extra passenger to drop off on the way home, and didn't feel like spending the extra time in traffic

Plans

• Do we have a time yet? I vote afternoon, because getting up in the morning is a terrible thing. HollyB 22:03, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

When will you be there? I refuse to miss you again! How about the usual 16:00? -- [[user:thepiguy]] 06:31, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Looking like 16:00 because I like my sleep and plan on meeting another friend there. Have fun to the 13:00ers! HollyB 09:42, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

• Wade is restricted to the afternoon, too. Any time after one. -Robyn 22:08, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
• Afternoon is best for me. - Elbie 22:43, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
• We were hoping to do morning since I have to meet with my study group in the afternoon. Might be able to do very early afternoon, but only briefly. Air384 22:46, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
• 16:00 Why mess with a good thing? -- [[user:thepiguy]] 06:31, 3 July 2010 (UTC)
• And 13:00 for people (like me) who can't make it later. -Robyn 04:31, 4 July 2010 (UTC)
• I'm fine with either 13:00 or 16:00, whichever will let me meet the most people. Unlikely to make it to both, though... -- Rhonda 06:28, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Expeditions

It was a day of many arrivals at an easily accessible set of coordinates.

First Post

Someone is taking home a "first geohasher" ribbon today. This had better not remain a mystery!

Robyn

Robyn displays the traditional grin.

I biked down the hill using the Windsor and Off-Broadway bike routes, then went straight down Main and hopped the sidewalk at Main and Terminal to arrive in front of the train station at a couple of minutes after 1 p.m. I had thought I might be the first to reach the coordinates, but the chalk mark on the nearest sidewalk showed that someone had beaten me to it then left before I arrived. I followed the GPS and the Google Maps image back a couple of parking spaces and marked my zero-point. I used a five-pointed star, as that is one of the symbols of the United States, to commemorating the 234th anniversary of their declaration of independence. I'd better practice up on my fleurs-de-lis, in case I get a chance for a Bastille Day hash in a couple of weeks, too.

A train station is an excellent location for a geohash. Not only is it easy to get to, but a person linger and scrutinizing the passers by is not out of place. Dozens of people were coming and going, often consulting handheld devices as they approached. They were looking up train times or checking their text messages to see if the person they were meeting had arrived yet, but they looked like geohashers. In the early days of geohashing, or when I'm in a remote area, I always looked at people and imagined they were geohashers, at least until they passed by. It made the sport less lonely. Look, for example at the people in the background of this shot of my bicycle and the chalk markings. Doesn't that look like a pair of geohashers?

Many people looking as much or more like geohashers walked right over the chalk star, as I waited near the coordinates.

Mr. & Mrs. Wenslayer-Parent

Sometimes wishing makes it so. The people who happen to be in my establishing shot of the coordinates drew closer and then indicated the chalk markings with no surprise. "You're geohashing?" I said, trying to be as lackadaisical as they were about three people being at the same set of random coordinates at the same time for the same purpose. They were doing this on behalf of their son, whose real name they gave, but who was easily identifiable as Wenslayer, through their accounts of his previous expeditions.

Wenslayer's parents

They were both very enthusiastic about correctly fulfilling what was clearly a Puppet Master mission. He made several forays back and forth across the parking lot wielding what looked like an iPod-based GPS unit, and she strove to document his progress with a camera. They encountered the usual problem of getting a clear image of a GPS with a camera, but I assured them that establishing shots of the area, and having met another geohasher, would more than fulfill the parameters of their mission. "Now what do we do?" they asked.

"Meet others. Play games. Sometimes we have a picnic." I offered them chalk to make a contribution to the coordinate mark, but they didn't know of a symbol that would represent Wenslayer for this purpose, so they declined. I added them to a tally for visitors, assuming that the first hash mark was made by a lone individual.

We had an interesting conversation and then they left.

Wade

Wade makes the fifth chalk mark.

Wade arrived by motorcycle, on his way back from a concert by a group of New Zealand high school students. Wade watched Robyn's bike while she went into the train station in search of a postcard depicting it, but there was none to be sold. Wade and Robyn then left to help a friend move furniture, as we had promised.

thepiguy

Was headed through Vancouver on his bike in the morning and couldn't resist causing a little trouble while he was at it.

He later returned to the scene of the crime so he could finally meet Holly!

Holly, Dale, and friend

Were also there!

Rhonda and Xore

Rhonda and Xore left later than intended and got to the geohash about 15 minutes later than intended, by car. There were already four people standing in the corner of the parking lot, so we pulled into the very last spot, surprising thepiguy who had to move a few inches out of our way and was wondering why somebody would park way over here when there were open spots closer to Pacific Central Station's main doors, before he recognized us and made a comical shocked face.

16:00 group

We chatted for a while, and took pictures at the chalk star and the chalked tally, which had pictures of a dinosaur, two bikes, and a set of tally marks which we brought up to 11 while speculating who the extra people might be.

We wanted to get a group photo, but again, nobody had a tripod. This was shortly solved when thepiguy balanced his camera, not on a bike as he did on Canada Day, but on a bike *rack* which was attached to Rhonda & Xore's geohashmobile.

Photos

• 

  The marker as thepiguy first left it.

• 

  thepiguy's GPS during his second visit.

• 

  The 1600 group!

• 

  The marker as in its final stages.