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Saudi Arabia : `Asīr

4.7 km (2.9 miles) W of al-Mahabba, `Asīr, Saudi Arabia
Approx. altitude: 710 m (2329 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 19°S 138°W

Accuracy: 88 m (288 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View to the South #3: View to the West #4: View to the North #5: View to the East #6: GPS Reading #7: Ground Zero #8: The Confluence Hunter #9: Road to the Confluence

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  19°N 42°E (visit #2)  

#1: The Confluence from 88 m Distance

(visited by Rainer Mautz)

23-Dec-2019 -- This is the 17th out of 21 successful revisits plus 2 unsuccessful attempts on unvisited confluences in Saudi Arabia. The story starts at 28°N 48°E and continues from 20°N 42°E.

We visited this confluence point on our way from Al Bahah to Tanomah. To reach this confluence, we had to descend the escarpment from the ridge at 2300 m down to an elevation of 500 m. We took a tiny breath-taking road with 50 hairpin-curves. We then took various roads up to a distance of 4 km. The confluence can be reached by car on asphalt roads up to a distance of 150 m. But the challenge is to find the right road. There is a network of tiny roads, which are not routing on Google or OSM. So we tried our luck, but after peeking and poking around, we decided to park at a remaining straight-line distance of 1300 m and walk.

I followed a rough car track for a while, but soon had to understand, that this track didn’t lead to my goal. Obviously, I had approached the confluence from the wrong valley. At a distance of 400 m, I left the track and turned into “straight-line walking mode”. This meant to climb a very steep hill. I reached the top at a remaining distance of 100 m. But a first glance on the other side didn’t bring any good news. An almost vertical rock face was ahead. To make a zero reading, I would have had to make a huge circle around the rock face and cautiously descend at a less steep grade. In order to let Elionora not wait in the car unnecessarily long and also to avoid driving hairpin curves in the dark, I just took a picture of the best GPS-reading that I could get from the top and returned to the car.

After visiting the confluence point, we had to ascend the escarpment again with an uncountable number of hairpins. It was already dark, when we reached the mountain town Tanomah.

CP Visit Details:

  • Distance to a road: 150 m
  • Distance to a track: 150 m
  • Distance of car parking: 1300 m
  • Time to reach the confluence from the car: 30 minutes
  • Time at the confluence: 4:20 PM
  • Measured height: 766 m
  • Minimal distance according to GPS: 88 m
  • Position accuracy: 7 m
  • Topography: mountainous, on a steep valley flank
  • Vegetation: small bushes and grass
  • Weather: sunny, 22° C (felt temperature)
  • Given Name: The Wrong Valley Confluence

The story continues at 18°N 43°E.

More pictures of the trip can be found here.


 All pictures
#1: The Confluence from 88 m Distance
#2: View to the South
#3: View to the West
#4: View to the North
#5: View to the East
#6: GPS Reading
#7: Ground Zero
#8: The Confluence Hunter
#9: Road to the Confluence
ALL: All pictures on one page