#15: [14-May-24]

#14: [23-Aug-19]

#13: [23-Dec-14]

#12: [03-May-13]

#11: [29-Aug-10]

#10: [19-Apr-10]

#8: [17-Jul-09]

#7: [18-Jan-09]

#6: [01-Jan-09]

#5: [26-Apr-08]

#4: [16-Mar-06]

#2: [04-May-02]

#9: [10-Sep-01]

#1: [05-Aug-01]

05-May-2005 -- The story starts from 50N 11E.

This is the tenth visit out of a 10-confluence-hunt along the 50 degree latitude line. The special purpose of that tour was to visit as many confluence points as possible within one day.

9 confluences lay already behind us, what a long day! But with some residual enthusiasm left, we headed off for this one.

Coming from 50N 3E we took the N29 to Amiens, and then followed the river Somme to the village Conde Folie. We left that village to the south, and reached a hilltop nearly 1km later. We followed an asphalted single lane road and reached the confluence with ease.

When we reached the confluence point, it was just before sunset. We had the fortune to view the sun for a minute between the clouds. Since the exact location appeared to be in a wheat field, we did not ‘zero’ the point.

CP visit details:

• Time at the CP: 21:10 p.m.
• Driving time to get to the CP: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Driving distance: 97 km
• Distance of car parking: 41 m
• Distance to a track: 41 m
• Distance to a road: 41 m
• Distance to houses: 1000 m
• Topography: slightly hilly
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 40.4 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 4 m
• GPS height: 74 m
• Vegetation: Field with young wheat sprouts.
• Weather: Overcast, 7° C (felt temperature), strong winds.
• Specialities: Cold. Sun set. Overhead power line in ca. 200m distance.
• Description of the CP: Near the valley of the river Somme between the cities of Amiens and Abbeville. On a slight hilltop in agricultural area. Mostly cereal crops. Some bushes and small scattered forests in 500m distance.
• Given Name: Today’s 10th Confluence

After the documentation of the point (Guang was already too exhausted and too cold to leave the car), we looked for a spot to put our tent. For another confluence visit it would have been too late. With good luck, we could have had some last daylight if we had reached the 11th confluence at 22:30. But anyway, CP 50N 1E is already in the Atlantic Ocean. So, we decided to call it a day. We camped about 700m from the confluence. Falling into sleep was no problem.

Just some statistics: On average, we stayed 13 minutes at each CP and it took us 1 hour 27 minutes to drive from one to another. According to a route planner it would have taken 1 hour 41 minutes. The average driving distance was 112 km (compared to 104 km according to the planner). Probably, our 100km-deviation while travelling to 50N 5E screwed our average driving distance. Again on average, we parked the car in 162m beeline distance from the confluence, with the nearest track being 79m, the nearest road 218m and the nearest village being 900m away. The GPS distance was 17m from the exact location with a positioning accuracy of 5.1m.