#5: [24-Aug-22]

#4: [28-May-17]

#2: [07-Sep-03]

#1: [20-Aug-01]

09-Nov-2014 -- On Friday after work, I took a train from Zurich to Milano, changed into a regional train that took me to the touristic town Alassio (15 km beeline from the confluence) at the western coast of Liguria. I arrived at midnight, but was sure that I would find some place to stay without any problem since every second building is either a hotel, a pension or a bed and breakfast place. But it turned out that during the month of November all hotels are closed and there seems to be no exception. I tried 30 different places until I finally found the only open hotel.

The next day was beautifully sunny and warm. After a great sunrise at the beach, I started cycling into the Ligurian Mountains. Cycling was great and I enjoyed the winding little roads with almost no traffic and the remote little mountain villages. At one point I saw this funny signposting at the entrance of a little side road. I had to stop in order to conceive all these warnings and prohibitions.

I left the county road ‘SP13’ a little too early such that I cruised around on forest tracks for one hour until I reached the confluence point. The easy way however would be to leave ‘SP13’ at the intersection with ‘SP6’ which is 1 km to the north-west. An earth track comes as close as 30 m to the Confluence. From the track a steep grade through thorny thickets has to be overcome to reach the exact location. The Confluence is on a raised position with great views into the Ligurian Alps and the snow covered Maritime Alps in the distance (if you can find a spot to look through the thickets). I struggled through the thickets for another 10 minutes to get a satisfying confluence picture from 20 m distance and view to the Alps. I felt a little unsafe hiking through the thickets because I wasn’t the only hunter in this area. The forest was full of real hunters with guns and I heard shots once in a while.

After the documentation of the Confluence, I continued riding various mountain passes until I reached the town Fossano at dinner time.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to the road: 1 km
• Distance of bicycle parking: 30 m
• Time to reach the CP from the bicycle: 5 min
• Time at the CP: 10:15 AM
• Measured height: 768 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy: 6 m
• Topography: steep and mountainous
• Vegetation: various tree species such as pine, chestnut and beech, tendrils such as blackberry
• Weather: sunny, 17° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Sign Post Forest Confluence