Difference between revisions of "2012-06-06 38 -77"

Latest revision as of 04:25, 13 August 2019

Location

Along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park just southeast of Chain Bridge road. Google maps satellite shows it to be barren and easy to get to.

Participants

Thomcat

Plans

I put an announcement on the graticule page as soon as the point was visible and started making plans. One train and one bus (go public transit!) and I would be at the hash around 4:00.

Expedition

This expedition, solo unfortunately, was a case of "not here but down there." I took the blue line train to Farragut Park, then just missed the D5 bus. No problem with the next bus, then south to the Park itself. I took one path way which would lead to the road... no, it led to an overpass. After working my way down from that, I ended up on a bridge over the path I needed to be on.

I followed that path to the appropriate spot for yet another "down there" moment - this time into a very green and growing patch of canal park. In I went, hoping this would not lead to the first "Lyme Disease" achievement :P

Much undergrowth was skirted or pushed aside leading me to the spot, a very cool clearing with three big rocks. Said rocks enabled me to prop camera and pose, to spell out XKCD, and in general to wait patiently to see if anyone else was going to show up or post on the graticule page.

At 5:30 I gave up and scrambled out a different way than I came in. After hanging out on the path for a bit longer I gave up completely and made my way across the Chain Road Bridge and back into a fairly rural patch of Virginia. Finally I found a bus back to Crystal City and the hotel.

Addendum: Researching documented expeditions, this is the first successful one inside the actual District of Columbia.

Photos

D.C. has plenty of statues to see
Another D.C. statue, from Lafayette Square
The only military instruction I can see is "Don't point that thing there!"
Finally, the D5 bus arrives!

Off one street, a convenient trail leads the way...
... just to this overpass
I need to be down there!

The trail leads eventually to this old railroad bridge
Again, I need to be down there.
Finally on the right trail. Well traveled - joggers and cyclists
This spillway allows water to overflow from the canal - fortunately it's dry now, so maybe the geohash will be also

An older and slightly newer milestone
Tangentially as close as I can get on trail
I've got to go down there?!?

Destination reached!
Zooming out, here are two of the three rocks
More rocks - this is a right nice clearing
Pretty much on the spot - huzzah!

Left an XKCD for future visitors... or the wind
Climbed up to the Chain Road bridge
Nice view from the bridge
Virginia is for lovers... of graffiti

Achievements

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-[[Image:{{{image|IMAGE}}}|thumb|left]]
-Remove this section if you don't want an image at the top (left) of your report.   You should remove the "Image:" or "File:"
-tag from your image file name, and replace the all upper-case word IMAGE in the above line.
-And DON'T FORGET to add your expedition and the best photo you took to the gallery on the Main Page! We'd love to read your report, but that means we first have to discover it! :)
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 {{meetup graticule
 | lat=38
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 }}
-<!-- edit as necessary -->
 __NOTOC__
 == Location ==
-<!-- where you've surveyed the hash to be -->
+Along the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Canal_National_Historical_Park Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park] just southeast of Chain Bridge road. Google maps satellite shows it to be barren and easy to get to.
 == Participants ==
-<!-- who attended: If you link to your wiki user name in this section, your expedition will be picked up by the various statistics generated for geohashing. You may use three tildes ~ as a shortcut to automatically insert the user signature of the account you are editing with.
+[[User:Thomcat|Thomcat]]
--->
 == Plans ==
-<!-- what were the original plans -->
+I put an announcement on the graticule page as soon as the point was visible and started making plans. One train and one bus (go public transit!) and I would be at the hash around 4:00.
 == Expedition ==
-<!-- how it all turned out. your narrative goes here. -->
+This expedition, solo unfortunately, was a case of "not here but down there." I took the blue line train to Farragut Park, then just missed the D5 bus. No problem with the next bus, then south to the Park itself. I took one path way which would lead to the road... no, it led to an overpass. After working my way down from that, I ended up on a bridge over the path I needed to be on.
+I followed that path to the appropriate spot for yet another "down there" moment - this time into a very green and growing patch of canal park. In I went, hoping this would not lead to the first "Lyme Disease" achievement :P
+Much undergrowth was skirted or pushed aside leading me to the spot, a very cool clearing with three big rocks. Said rocks enabled me to prop camera and pose, to spell out XKCD, and in general to wait patiently to see if anyone else was going to show up or post on the graticule page.
-== Tracklog ==
+At 5:30 I gave up and scrambled out a different way than I came in. After hanging out on the path for a bit longer I gave up completely and made my way across the Chain Road Bridge and back into a fairly rural patch of Virginia. Finally I found a bus back to Crystal City and the hotel.
-<!-- if your GPS device keeps a log, you may post a link here -->
+'''Addendum:''' Researching documented expeditions, this is the '''first''' successful one inside the actual District of Columbia.
 == Photos ==
-<!-- Insert pictures between the gallery tags using the following format:
+<gallery perrow="4">
-Image:2010-##-## ## ## Alpha.jpg | Witty Comment
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_Farragut.jpg|D.C. has plenty of statues to see
--->
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_von_steuben.jpg|Another D.C. statue, from Lafayette Square
-<gallery perrow="5">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_von_steuben_instruction.jpg|The only military instruction I can see is "Don't point that thing there!"
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_D5_bus.jpg|Finally, the D5 bus arrives!
+</gallery>
+<gallery perrow="3">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_trail.jpg|Off one street, a convenient trail leads the way...
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_trail_overpass.jpg|... just to this overpass
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_trail_down_there.jpg|I need to be down there!
+</gallery>
+<gallery perrow="4">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_bridge.jpg|The trail leads eventually to this old railroad bridge
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_bridge_down_there.jpg|Again, I need to be down there.
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_canal_trail.jpg|Finally on the right trail. Well traveled - joggers and cyclists
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_canal_spillway.jpg|This spillway allows water to overflow from the canal - fortunately it's dry now, so maybe the geohash will be also
+</gallery>
+<gallery perrow="3">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_milestone.jpg|An older and slightly newer milestone
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_canal_spot.jpg|Tangentially as close as I can get on trail
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_canal_down_there.jpg|I've got to go down there?!?
+</gallery>
+<gallery perrow="4">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_destination.jpg|Destination reached!
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_two_rocks.jpg|Zooming out, here are two of the three rocks
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_more_rocks.jpg|More rocks - this is a right nice clearing
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_on_the_spot.jpg|Pretty much on the spot - huzzah!
+</gallery>
+<gallery perrow="4">
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_xkcd.jpg|Left an XKCD for future visitors... or the wind
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_chain_bridge.jpg|Climbed up to the Chain Road bridge
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_canal_view.jpg|Nice view from the bridge
+Image:2012_06_06_38_-77_virginia.jpg|Virginia is for lovers... of graffiti
 </gallery>
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-<!-- =============== USEFUL CATEGORIES FOLLOW ================
-Delete the next line ONLY if you have chosen the appropriate categories below. If you are unsure, don't worry. People will read your report and help you with the classification. -->
-[[Category:New report]]
-<!-- Potential categories. Please include all the ones appropriate to your expedition -->
-<!-- If this is a planning page:
-[[Category:Expedition planning]]
--->
-<!-- An actual expedition:
 [[Category:Expeditions]]
--- and one or more of --
 [[Category:Expeditions with photos]]
-[[Category:Expeditions with videos]]
-[[Category:Expedition without GPS]]
--->
-<!-- if you reached your coords:
 [[Category:Coordinates reached]]
--->
+{{location|US|DC}}
-<!-- or if you failed :(
-[[Category:Coordinates not reached]]
--- and a reason --
-[[Category:Not reached - Mother Nature]]     when there is a natural obstacle between you and the target
-[[Category:Not reached - No public access]]  when there is a man-made obstacle between you and the target
-[[Category:Not reached - Technology]]        when you failed get your GPS, car, bike or such to work
-[[Category:Not reached - Did not attempt]]   when you went to an alternate location, or decided early on to abort the expedition.
--->


Wed 6 Jun 2012 in 38,-77: 38.9283575, -77.1117727 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox