2021-03-24 42 -82

Wed 24 Mar 2021 in 42,-82: 42.5911091, -82.5929936 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In a marsh in Harsens Island, Michigan. Harsens Island is a rural, marshy island in Lake St Clair off the coast of Algonac, accessible only by boat and car ferry. While there are some houses and businesses on the island, most land there is owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and it's a popular spot for hunting and fishing.

Participants

Alison (talk)

Plans

MusicalMitten pointed out on Wednesday morning that the day's hash in the Windsor graticule was on Harsens Island. He, Nixill, and I briefly discussed plans for a group trip out to the island, but ultimately I was the only one who had time for the trip. (It's at least a 2.5 hour round trip from any of our houses by car, impractical by bike, and impossible by public transit.) I planned on leaving home around 16:30 to arrive at the island about 18:00, visit the hash before sunset (19:45ish) and have dinner on the island, then leave the island and drive home. The car ferry runs every fifteen minutes from 04:30 to midnight, so I was reasonably confident I wasn't going to get stranded on the island.

As for planning my route to the hashpoint, I relied on satellite imagery because there is no Google Street View on the island and I had never visited before. Raised berms make a network of pathways through the island's marshy interior, and I found what looked like a parking area about 1.2 km north of the hashpoint. I planned on parking at the parking area and walking the rest of the way.

Expedition

I left my house about 16:55 to drive to the entrance of the car ferry. The drive went pretty smoothly except for traffic that quickly backed up near the I-696 exit to eastbound I-94. I've gotten into crashes in sudden traffic jams before, so that had me on edge until I got onto M-29 in New Baltimore around 17:37. Driving up M-29, I saw a lot of Trump flags and one trans flag in front of houses, a Blue Water Transit M-29 bus, and the Bouvier Bridge, a pretty neat pedestrian bridge that links a marina and RV resort across M-29.

It was pretty easy to spot the car ferry due to the short queue of cars that had built up in the turning lane, and I reached it at 17:52. It was interesting to discover that my car's factory satnav knew about the ferry route.

Driving off the ferry and onto the island, I got slightly lost and had to drive around aimlessly a bit until I found a place to turn off and check maps on my phone. I didn't think to do it in the ferry parking lot, and most roads on the island are too narrow and bordered too closely by marshland to pull off on the shoulder. Once I did that, I was able to find the parking area I planned to park in. A sign identified it as the Ames Road Boat Access Site. I parked up, got out of my car at 18:13, and perused the various signs posted at the boat ramp and at the gate to the berms to the hashpoint. Signs posted next to the gate read Authorized Vehicles Only, Hunting/Entry by Permit Only Sept. 1 -- Jan. 1, and No Motorized Vehicles.