#3: [23-Dec-22]

#1: [15-May-01]

09-Jun-2014 -- We hiked 955 km from Zurich to visit this confluence point. Start of this trip was April 2013, when we began our journey to Rome. The specialty of this trip is that hiking is not done in one go, but in stages. Once every month, we hike for a weekend and travel back home by train. Then we take a train to the place we had stopped last time and resume our hike from the same train station.

Due to Whit Sunday, we spent an extended weekend for our hike, this time starting in Rosignano Solvay south of Livorno. The day before the visit we missed this confluence point because it was too hot to make a deviation and too late in order to reach Grosseto after a possible confluence visit.

On confluence day, we had originally planned to hike further south towards Rome and skip this confluence visit. But it was going to be 38° C – a temperature where hiking is not pleasant. So we spontaneously rented a car in Grosseto (27 km from the CP) and simply drove there.

At a distance of 900 m, we reached a gate. Before we had figured out a solution for getting closer, the gate was opened by a German tourist couple. They were guests of the Wine Resort ‘Conti di San Bonifacio’, a well maintained high class hotel and restaurant (original website here). We parked at their official parking lot in 320 m distance to the confluence point. First, we went to the reception explaining our mission and promptly got permission to visit the confluence and take pictures. I should add that the people were absolutely friendly and had no suspiciousness (which is not often the case).

Visiting the confluence point was then just a short stroll over the park-like area of the resort on footpaths. The confluence is on a hill, such that there are great views into the Toscana during the walk. There are olive trees, pine trees, and cypresses. A path leads up to 20 m to the point; only for these last 20 m, we had to penetrate some thickets.

After the visit, we drove back to Grosseto and took a train back to Zurich.

Interestingly, the so-far two reports of this confluence are quite contrary to each other: ours as great as it can get, theirs as bad as it can get (particularly if one misses asking for permission!). The description of the point of report no. 1 is most likely the reason why this point has only been visited once so far. But I suggest: visit the point – it is great!

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to the road: 280 m
• Distance of car parking: 280 m
• Time to reach the CP from the road: 10 minutes
• Time at the CP: 11:30 AM
• Measured height: 147 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy: 7 m
• Topography: hilly
• Vegetation: bushes, thick undergrows
• Weather: cloudy, 38° C (official temperature)
• Given Name: The Hot Winery Confluence