#2: [03-Feb-06]

#1: [09-Apr-05]

07-Jul-2012 -- This is the 2^nd out of 20 confluence points that I reached on a bicycle trip to the North-East of China. The narrative of the trip starts from 41°N 117°E.

On the 4^th day of the trip, we started in the morning from the village Nánshānjǔ (南山咀乡), 20 km south of the confluence. By a public road, we could come as close as 1800 m to the confluence, but at a distance of 2.5 km we found a turnoff that pointed well in the direction of the confluence point. This track turned out to be too rough for biking, so we abandoned the bikes by hiding them at a distance of 1.8 km and started hiking upwards the steep track.

The closest that we could get was 350 m, but extremely dense shrubs combined with a steep incline didn’t look promising for a further approach. Nevertheless, we attempted to fight through the vegetation, but progress was slow and exhausting. So at about 50 m into the jungle, Thoggol wanted to rather try an approach from the other side. But I preferred to keep on straight on beeline course, even so it was slowgoing. So we split up and an unsaid competition began on who would be first. I had speculated on the fact that the density of the vegetation would get better and in fact it did improve a little, even though the steep grade of the mountain provided a challenge. Thoggol on the other hand found a better approach with a footpath up to 90 m distance to the confluence. But the longer walk around took him more time, so he reached the confluence 15 minutes later than me.

The exact location of the confluence is on that inclined flank of the mountain, three quarters up to the top. The dense vegetation does not allow for any views down into the valley (at least in summer). So this is a winter confluence (that is a confluence which is better to be visited during the winter month). At the confluence, we saw this interesting bark.

Our way back was easy: after bushfighting of only 90 m, we reached the footpath that Thoggol had discovered and easily got back to our bikes. We rode that day to the nearby town Wéichǎng (围场县).

CP visit details:

• Distance to a public road: 1800 m (turnoff at 2500 m)
• Distance to a track: 350 m
• Distance to a footpath: 90 m
• Duration of the hike to reach the CP: 1.5 hours
• Distance of bicycle parking: 1800 m
• Distance to houses: 2500 m
• Time at the CP: 9:10 AM
• Measured height: 1449 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 11 m
• Topography: steep grade, mountainous
• Vegetation: dense forest of birch trees, hazelnut, maple
• Weather: overcast, 24° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Wayfinding Competition Confluence

Story continues at 43°N 118°E.