#24: [11-Aug-24]

#22: [19-Jun-23]

#20: [15-Jun-22]

#19: [12-Sep-21]

#18: [05-Aug-20]

#21: [14-Jun-19]

#16: [24-Feb-19]

#15: [03-Jan-16]

#14: [13-Jul-13]

#13: [26-Jun-11]

#11: [18-May-11]

#17: [07-May-11]

#10: [18-Jun-10]

#9: [08-Oct-09]

#7: [03-Jan-09]

#6: [28-Apr-07]

#4: [02-May-04]

#5: [09-Mar-02]

#3: [16-Apr-01]

#2: [14-Apr-01]

#23: [31-Dec-23]

#1: [12-Apr-01]

20-Mar-2009 -- This is the first out of six confluence points that I visited this beautiful sunny Friday in the eve of spring. On the previous day, I had participated at the Workshop on Positioning, Navigation and Communication in Hanover. My friend Holger would celebrate his 40th birthday on Saturday in Göttingen – so between those two events I had a day to spend in Northern Germany. So, I decided to follow my hobby and go line hunting.

I left a car-rental with a small personal car in Hanover City at 7:30 a.m. I followed the Autobahn A2 towards Hanover, left it at Soltau-South and reached shortly after the confluence point which is just 12 m from a country road. I parked the car in a distance of 500 m and walked to the exact location. The confluence is down a slope from the elevated road. I crossed a ditch filled with water and located the point on a forest track that runs parallel to the road and ditch in a deep spruce forest.

I wish I had taken gloves with me. Due to the clear sky, the temperature had dropped down to -4° Celsius during the night. Holding GPS and camera began to be painful.

I walked and drove back the same way that I had come and continued to 53°N 9°E.

I did not try to visit as many points on a day as possible since I was alone and would need some breaks after a while. Therefore, I did not hurry. But I also tried to avoid spending my time with other activities during the daylight hours.

CP visit details:

• Beeline distance from starting point: 71.2 km
• Departure time: 7:30 am
• Distance and time of parking: 496 m (8:22 am)
• Time at the CP: 8:35 am
• Minimal distance to the CP: 1 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 6 m
• Measured height: 84 m
• Vegetation: deep spruce forest, also stone pines
• Distance to a road: 12 m
• Distance to a track: 1 m
• Distance to houses: 130 m
• Topography: generally flat apart from the escarpment to the road.
• Weather: clear, -2° C (felt temperature)
• Description of the CP: Located between Hamburg and Hanover. 11 km east of the town Soltau. Directly next to a country road.
• Given Name: The Steep Escarpment Confluence

Story continues at 53°N 9°E.