#4: [27-Mar-16]

#3: [27-Aug-06]

#1: [15-Oct-04]

07-Jul-2006 -- Continued from 69N 34E. This is my 100^th unique confluence visit.

On 5 July we took a train from Murmansk (Му́рманск) to Kirovsk (Кировск). The next day we decided to make a little detour on our way back to Murmansk in order to visit this Confluence. Therefore we took a bus to the big industrial city of Monchegorsk (Мончего́рск) and spend the night there.

On Confluence day, we left our bags in the hotel and started the confluence trip directly on foot. With only 8 km beeline distance from Monchegorsk to the confluence point, we thought that we could walk on foot. But soon our further approach was stalled by parts of Lake Imandra. The next bridge was visible, but in quite some distance. The industrial environment also didn't contribute much for an inviting hike, so we decided to take a taxi. Our taxi driver took us over the bridge to a town called '25-Kilometer' (this km-count seems to start from the Murmansk – St. Petersburg railway line in Olenegorsk (Оленего́рск)).

From 25-Kilometer town, we had to hike another 1.8 km to the Confluence. The town itself appeared to have a desolate atmosphere. Some decayed concrete buildings are surrounded by nickel and copper production zones. However, the hike was nice leading through some nice country side. First we followed a track along the railway line and the last 600 m we hiked across some open meadows with several drainage channels to be crossed. Clearly, this is not the original tundra anymore, but rather waste land.

The confluence point itself is on one of these wet meadows. In the Southwest the chimneys of the nickel and copper processing facilities can be seen.

On the way back, we found a bus that directly could take us from 25-Kilometer town to Monchegorsk. In the afternoon we took another bus back to Murmansk.

CP visit details:

• Time at the CP: 9:52 p.m.
• Hiking time: 1.5 hours
• Hiking distance: 1.8 km (beeline)
• Distance to a track: 600 m
• Distance to houses: 1.8 km
• Topography: flat land, mountains in view
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0.77 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 7 m
• GPS height: 152 m
• Vegetation: Grassland, a variety of bushes along the draining channels, but not original tundra vegetation.
• Weather: alternating, 10 – 20°C
• Description of the CP: In the northern part of Scandinavia and also on the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. Very close to the big city Monchegorsk and clearly influenced by its industry.
• Given Name: Monchegorsk Industry Confluence

Story continues at 69N 33E.

PS: We cannot confirm that the point is on the territory of a military airbase as Viktor Kirichenko, the first visitor has mentioned. His confluence picture may not be taken at the confluence point due to some picture confusion. Or, the huge difference of the confluence area between the two visits could also be caused by a change of the landscape within the 2 years.