#1: [22-Feb-01]

01-Aug-2014 -- This is the third out of 5 reports reaching confluence points in Southern Norway.

The story starts from 60°N 11°E. The previous visit was 60°N 10°E.

This confluence visit was the highlight of my tour. On the second day at 10 AM I reached the town Veggli down at the main road number 40. From there, a small road (halfway asphalted) leads high up into the confluence area. As it is with most places i.e. with most confluence points in this world, the closer one gets to the goal, the tinier the roads get. And this approach was no exception. A smaller side road followed the chain of lakes called Gversettjønn, Krakasløken, Langevatn and Votndalsvatn. At the last of these lakes the track split up to several mountain cabins which Norwegian people seem to love. All tracks ended up in dead ends, so I parked my bicycle at a distance of 1.5 km and started hiking. I passed through beautiful wilderness, sourrounded the swampy lake Gaupetjønn, climbed over a pass to Ingebjørgtjønn and finally reached the lake Austmannbutjønn with the confluence being located in the middle of the lake.

I wasn’t sure which side of the lake would be closer to the confluence point, the east or the west side? When I was pondering, I suddenly saw a small rawboat. It must have come directly from heaven. Even though there was no oar, I found a little wooden board that was sufficient to row those 230 m and obtain a zero reading. Getting back turned out to be quite difficult, because the headwind blew almost as strong as I could paddle against the wind. By the way: the west shore of the lake is closer to the confluence (40 m) compared to the east side (80 m).

After bringing back the boat to its original place, I had a swim in the lake. After a heat wave lasting 3-weeks, this lake in 940 m elevation was pleasantly warm to stay in the water as long as I wished to.

At the northern most point of the lake, there is a cosy cabin with a sheep in front of it. This would be a perfect place to stay a week, if I only could be able to contact the owners and make a reservation.

I hiked and cycled back to Veggli. Cycling downwards was done in nearly no time. I continued cycling northwards, making it over another mountain pass into the Hallingdal and camping out in the wilderness for the third night (near Nesbyen).

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to the road: 1.5 km
• Distance of bicycle parking: 1.5 km
• Time to reach the CP from the road: 1 hour 15 min
• Time at the CP: 1:30 PM
• Measured height: 918 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy: 9 m
• Topography: mountainous
• Vegetation: underwater plants? Alga? Surely spruce forest nearby.
• Weather: partly cloudy, 25° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Boat from Heaven Confluence

The story continues at 61°N 9°E.

In a lake, about 50 m from land.