DCP: (visit #7)

02-Apr-2011 -- This report is the first out of a series of two confluences that we visited during an extended weekend trip to Graz and Ljubljana.

We reached the confluence point from the City of Graz by a short drive on Motorway A2 towards Klagenfurt, followed by a 10 km stretch on a county road along the reservoir Packer Stausee. Convenient parking was possible at a bridge directly besides the road at a distance of 240 m from the confluence. From the parking site, we reached our goal by a steep climb upwards (70 m in height) through a former forest. An intense lumbering must have taken place, probably in consequence of heavy storms that had destroyed the forest. This event must have had occurred between 2004 and 2007 as can be seen from pictures of former visits to this confluence.

The confluence point itself is right at the edge between the lumbered and the undamaged parts of the spruce forest on a steep slope at the northern face of a mountain. Directly at the integer latitude and longitude intersection, there is a great few in western direction to the Stubalp mountains that were still partly covered with snow. Towards the east, the logs of the forest are piled up.

CP visit details:

Beeline distance from parking: 236 m
Walking time (one way): 10 min
Time at the CP: 10:15 am
Measured height: 896 m
Position accuracy at the CP: 5 m
Minimal distance to the CP: 0 m
Vegetation: Spruce trees, ground covered with moss and grass.
Distance to a road: 220 m
Distance to a track: 40 m
Distance to houses: 220 m
Topography: slope towards north, generally mountainous area.
Weather: sunny, 20° C (felt temperature)
Description of the CP: In Eastern Austria in the state of Styria. In a mountain range called Packalpe that has peaks up to 2150 m. The beeline distance to the state capital Graz is 35 km
Given Name: The Logged Forest Confluence

Story continues at 46°N 15°E.

This is my 300th confluence visit – or more precisely – my 300th report at confluence.org. It is a good opportunity for a creating a personal statistic. I follow the format used by Wojciech Czombik at 54°N 23°E after completing Poland’s 40 confluence points.

Visits by:

Distance from my hometown Wiesbaden, Germany (as the crows fly):

Nearest: 20 km – 50°N 8°E and again 50°N 8°E (in the town Oestrich-Winkel)
Farthest: 18588 km – 43°S 173°E (near Lake Waihola, New Zealand)

Hiking duration to a confluence:

Shortest: 1 minute – walk 32°N 36°E (in Jordan’s Capital `Ammān)
Longest: 3 days – hike through the tundra 69°N 34°E (in Russia on the Kola Peninsula)

Total trip duration:

Shortest: 1 hour – round trip to 40°N 83°W from my former home in Columbus, Ohio, USA
Longest: 57 days – 29 confluences (from 42°N 26°E in Bulgaria to 40°N 116°E) China’s capital Beijing

Temperature:

Coldest: 0 ˚C – on April 9, 2010 at 41°N 44°E (near Gyumri in Armenia)
Hottest: +36 ˚C – on January 11, 2008 at 2°N 113°E (on Borneo Island, Malaysia)

Altitude above sea level (according to my device readings):

Lowest: -3 m – 26°N 56°E (Ra’s al-Khayma, in the United Arab Emirates)
Highest (incomplete): +4498 m – 31°N 103°E (Sichuan Province in China)
Highest (complete): +4002 m – 21°S 68°W (in Bolivia, Potosí)
Second highest: +3902 m – 16°S 70°W (in Peru, Puno)
European highest: +3170 m – 46°N 7°E (near Martigny, Switzerland)
Median altitude: 320 m

Distance to the actual confluence point (incl. GPS accuracy):

Closest to the confluence point (best accuracy):

1 m – 38°N 4°W (Spain, Andalucía) reason: DGPS, after sunset
1 m – 39°N 2°W (Spain, Castilla-La Mancha) reason: DGPS, at sunset

Most distant from the confluence (yet still within the allowed range of 100 m):

94 m – 47°N 5°E (in France, Region Bourgogne) reason: avoided stepping on crops
93 m – 14°N 39°E (Ethiopia, Tigray) reason: arrested by local residents
92 m – 39°S 176°E (New Zealand, North Island) reason: dense vegetation

Most distant from the confluence (including incomplete visits):

30 km – 12°N 1°W (in Burkina Faso near Ouagadogou) reason: price of rental car
26 km – 15°N 44°E (in Yemen near Ṣan`ā') reason: threatened and blackmailed
22 km – 33°N 105°E (in China’s province Gansu) reason: road conditions after heavy rain

Median of accuracy (second quartile, complete visits): 6 m
Median of accuracy (second quartile, incomplete visits): 2.4 km

Companionship to the Confluence Point:

Alone: 115
155 (with Elionora)
4 (with Joko)
4 (with Chen Xin)
3 (with Alfredo)
3 (with Rainer B.)
3 (with Peter)

Main means of transportation:

bicycle: 98
hiking: 62
own car: 60
rental car: 45
bus: 11
motor ship: 9
taxi: 8
motor-bike: 2
swimming: 1
canoe: 1
helicopter: 1
cruise liner: 1

Visit number to confluence point:

#1: 105
#2: 65
#3: 42
#4: 30
#5: 15
#6: 12
#7: 12
#8: 3
#9: 2
>9: 14
max: 20

Years:

2003: 10
2004: 42
2005: 30
2006: 49
2007: 20
2008: 67
2009: 41
2010: 38
2011: 3

Months:

January: 22
February: 6
March: 23
April: 32
May: 36
June: 11
July: 36
August: 29
September:47
October: 36
November: 10
December: 12

Countries:

China: 55
UK: 22
Germany: 22
France: 18
Spain: 15
New Zealand: 9
Italy: 9
Iran: 8
India: 7
Morocco: 6
Switzerland: 6
Czech Rep.: 6
Poland: 5
4 visits: 9
3 visits: 12
2 visits: 8
one visit: 33

Number of different countries: 74
Complete visits: 265
Incomplete visits: 35
Primary DCP visits: 269
Secondary DCP visits: 27
Special visits: 4
Unique visits: 296
Revisits: 4
Maximum number of visits in one day:

On May 05, 2005: 10
On April 28, 2006: 5
On April 29, 2006: 5
On May 1, 2008: 5

Antipodean visits:

Extreme latitudes and longitudes:

North: 80°N at 80°N 15°E in Svalbard
South: 47°S at 47°S 168°E in New Zealand
West: 98°W at 19°N 98°W in Mexico
East: 177°E at 38°S 177°E in New Zealand

Most visits of a latitude: 32 at 50°N
Most visits of a longitude: 9 at 8°E
Location of the confluence point:

forest: 78
agriculture: 76
open land: 110 (unused meadows, mountains, deserts)
urban land: 16 (thereof 6 in a house)
ocean: 8
lake: 4
olive grove: 3
river: 3
riding ring: 1

Austria

2.6 km (1.6 miles) NNE of Pack, Steiermark, Austria
Approx. altitude: 904 m (2965 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 47°S 165°W

Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)

Quality: good

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

Austria

2.6 km (1.6 miles) NNE of Pack, Steiermark, Austria Approx. altitude: 904 m (2965 ft) ([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator) Antipode: 47°S 165°W

Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)

Quality: good

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

2.6 km (1.6 miles) NNE of Pack, Steiermark, Austria
Approx. altitude: 904 m (2965 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 47°S 165°W