19-Oct-2019 -- Friday after work, I took a train from Zurich to Milano and another one further to Forence arriving there at 9 PM. As usual, I had brought my bicycle with me in a special bicycle-bag, such that I could directly cycle out of the train station after reassembling my bike.
After spending the night in Florence, I got an early start with the first daylight. The confluence is 50 km from the city, where the first half towards Prato is flat, built-up and crowded. In contrast to the second half, where very pleasant cycling began: a tiny mountain road winding up to the chestnut forest at 1000 m altitude.
Unfortunately it was foggy and wet, such that I had no views (neither down to Florence nor at the confluence). I had to leave the network of asphalted roads for the last kilometre. These mountain tracks where steep and slippery. At a distance of 500 m I decided to abandon my bicycle and hiked further uphill.
I found the confluence at a forest edge on a meadow with ferns. The location of the confluence is on a slope of a mountain, almost on its top. In 150 m distance, there is a fenced area with a small house and horses – but due to the fog, it is not visible in the pictures.
After the visit, I kept going further north through the Apennine Mountains, spending one night in the tiny high-altitude village Pianelli. The next day I finished my bicycle trip in Fidenza and took a train back to Zurich. I didn’t visit any other confluence points, because I normally don’t revisit confluences. This was the nearest land-based confluence from home which I hadn’t visited yet: 424 km (beeline) or 607 km by road. Now the nearest confluence is 52°N 7°E in northern Germany with 520 km beeline distance.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 1000 m
- Distance to a track: 300 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 500 m
- Time to reach the CP from the main road: 25 minutes
- Time at the CP: 11:04 AM
- Measured height: 989 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
- Position accuracy: 3 m
- Topography: mountainous
- Vegetation: deciduous trees, grass, ferns.
- Weather: foggy, 14° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Foggy Snowmann Confluence
The story finishes here.