01-Nov-2014 -- This is the first out of 2 reports reaching confluence points in Austria and in the Czech Republic.
Cycling and confluencing is my favourite combination of travel. To make it to a (to me new) confluence point and back to Zurich within a weekend, I usually get in the area by train and start cycling from a train station. I had enjoyed the last trip to Vienna so much that I decided to take the same night train again exactly one week later.
This time I left the train already in Linz, because this is the nearest train station to this confluence point. It is nevertheless more than 100 km cycling distance from Linz. I opted for a route through the Czech Republic and had my lunch in the town Benešov. Since nightfall was already at 5 PM, I had to hurry a bit. I entered Austria again between Chlum and Josefsthal and cycled various forest tracks up and down to the confluence point.
The Confluence is signposted well. But the signposting is not to the WGS-84 geodetic datum but to a national grid. Therefore the stone monument is about 100 m distance from the WGS-84 confluence. The location of the Confluence is quite unique: it is located just 80 m from the border to the Czech Republic and 90 m from the lake Rybník Staňkovský respective Stankauer Teich. It is actually not such a small lake as previous visitors have mentioned – it is the largest fishing lake of the Czech Republic with a length of 5.5 km.
The ‘real’ Confluence is in dense and darkish spruce forest with moss and mushrooms at the ground. A footpath comes as close as 20 m to the confluence point.
After the documentation I cycled further to spend the night in the town Slavonice, which is about 30 km further to the east.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to the road: ca 2 km
- Distance of bicycle parking: 20 m
- Time to reach the CP from the road: 20 min
- Time at the CP: 4:00 PM
- Measured height: 481 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
- Position accuracy: 6 m
- Topography: on a slope down to the lake, hilly
- Vegetation: spruce forest, mushrooms (the well tasting Boletus badius) and moss
- Weather: cloudy, 12° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Borderlake Monument Confluence
The story continues at 49°N 16°E.