14-Aug-2024 -- This is the 9th out of 10 reports visiting confluence points during a 10-day bicycle trip from Biała Podlaska (Poland) to Chemnitz (Germany). The story starts at 52°N 23°E and continues from 51°N 17°E.
In the late afternoon I went into the mountains. For the first time on this trip I was able to climb some mountains, because all of my previous route through Poland was flat or only slightly hilly. Shortly after passing through the village Muchów (on Road 365), my attack on 51° North 16° East began. This point is very interesting: it is deep in the forest and signposted directly from the road in 1.8 km distance with “Gnomon”. A gnomon is is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. An in Ancient Greek it means “one that knows or examines”. There were several signposts such that I didn't actually need GPS to reach it. When I arrived at the point there were information boards available and a comfortable table and seating area, which I didn't use because of the mosquitoes. The confluence is marked with a pole which is shaped like an Obelisk. When I put my GPS on top of it, it showed exactly all zeros, which is normally not the case, when the accuracy of the measurement is at a 5m-level.
After the visit, it was only another 8 km to my auberge in Stara Kraśnica. The hostel-father is also a beer brewer and showed me his small brewery where he produces 400 liters of beer each year. Of course I got one too. I then went to the next village, bought groceries and cooked my usual dinner in the hostel.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 1800 m
- Distance to a track: 0 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 20 m
- Time to reach the CP from the raod: 15 min
- Time at the CP: 5:52 PM
- Measured height: 391 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
- Position accuracy: 5 m
- Topography: mountainous
- Vegetation: beech and oak forest
- Weather: sunny, 30°C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Gnomon Confluence
The story finishes at 51°N 15°E.