2014-04-08 47 -122

Location

Between a trail and a stream in Lake Sammamish State Park.

Participants

Thomcat

Plans

Stop by after work, then brave opening day Seattle Mariner Traffic to get home.

Expedition

I needed to drive to my bank in Bellevue to cash in some coins (No fee that way). The most interesting piece of that transaction was a 20 euro cent coin. Whoops! At the bank, the skies (cloudy all day) were threatening rain.

From there I proceeded down the eastern side of Lake Sammamish to the park in question. Sitting at the southern end of the lake, this park sits very close to a freeway entrance and my route home. Was it on the way? Not strictly... but it wasn't too bad. On the way, the rain started coming down heavily. A wet wilderness geohash was in store for me.

I parked at the soccer parking lot south of the hash point. Why are they called the Costco soccer fields? Not because they come in a bundle-pack of 12, but because the building across the street was... Costco. No need to go in today, thanks.

The path was barred with a "no vehicles" gate but otherwise completely accessible. The trail looked good, at least to start. I brought an umbrella, because if I am going to get "drowned rat" living in Seattle, I am going to have to earn it. Around a corner, the trail was washed out. That's a polite way to say there was a puddle some 20 feet across. Not a new body of water, I followed in footprints in the mud along one side. Other washouts were tracked with footprints, dogprints and bicycles.

Now fairly close to the point, I looked up to see not one but two deer. I sidled left a bit for a better shot and they left - though I saw one of them again on the way out.

Just south of the hashpoint on the satellite photo was a clump of trees or bushes. Those bushes also hosted a sign describing the Issaquah Creek restoration project. A worthy effort, though the sign was not terribly clean. I took advantage of the grime (and/or mold) to leave a message to future geohashers and their deer.

Just around the corner, I reached the point itself. While uploading my message I went from 2.2 meters away out to about 9 meters, alas. Rain, wet foliage, and my umbrella were likely candidates. Just a few feet from the hashpoint was the creek itself, making a nice elbow bend. Water was running strong - runoff more than rain in this case.

Hooray! -- Thomcat (talk) @47.5555,-122.0549 16:01, 8 April 2014 (PDT)

As I returned I snapped a few more pictures of the sign and spotted the deer again (or perhaps it was yet another deer - dunno). I snapped his picture next to mine - not sure if he followed my exhortation to provide a stupid grin. I failed to fall on my keister in the mud and ended up back at the car.

Though damp, this was a beautiful geohashing experience!