23-Jun-2020 -- Due to the measures taking to prevent the spread of the corona virus – one of them being worldwide travel restrictions - the number of confluence visits has dropped dramatically: just three visits have been reported within the last three months: none in April, three in May and none in June so far.
I had originally planned to cycle in Finland, but due to a required quarantine for foreign travellers, I changed my flight destination from Helsinki to Tallinn just a few hours before departure.
Flying has become a new experience: during my 5-hour stay at Helsinki Airport – a huge intercontinental hub – I felt like wandering through a ghost town. Only a single kiosk and a pharmacy were open. During my flight from Helsinki to Tallinn two guys refused to were face masks. The cabin crew became more and more angry that I feared that we would make an U-turn to drop of those passengers in Helsinki.
However, once I had arrived in Tallinn and unpacked my bicycle, a great cycling trip began without being reminded on the current pandemic.
This report is the first out of eight reports reaching confluence points during my 5-day bicycle trip (901 km) from Tallinn to Riga.
On confluence day, I started at 6 AM from Tallinn and reached the confluence 7 hours later on peaceful country roads. I parked my
bicycle under a tree and walked over agricultural land towards the point into a huge wheat field. The closest I could get to the confluence point without stepping into the crops was 44 m.
After the confluence visit I continued cycling eastwards. In the afternoon I accidentally came across an Struve Arc Point, called the kaare punkt.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 150 m
- Distance to a track: 150 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 150 m
- Time to reach the confluence from the road: 2 min
- Time at the confluence: 12:57 PM
- Measured height: 166 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 44 m
- Position accuracy: 2 m
- Topography: flat
- Vegetation: agricultural land, young wheat.
- Weather: sunny, 30° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Huge Wheat Field Confluence
The story continues at 59°N 27°E.