Mountains Of Heterocera

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS IN PROGRESS, PLEASE WAIT TO BE FINISHED (estimated finish date December 20th 2013)

The mountain range of Heterocera are the highest mountains of the whole grid, the longest and by far they cover the largest surface from all mountain ranges. They have complex and interesting Geographic features. On the ap, they have the form of a horseshoe and they are the backbone of the Heterocera continent.

To get an idea about the size of Heterocera Mountains, they cover probably 60 sims (more then some small continents). The central mountain range crosses 26 sims and its length is 15 sims (3.84 km). Maximum Altitude can be found in here (364 to 389 meters, see below). They can be visited by multiple ways.

Geography

These mountains can be divided into 3 main regions:

Low Inner Mountains are not an official structure, but in practice they are an important feature. They form an almost vertical versance at their border with the inner plains. The VRC main railway travels exactly through this versance. This place has direct railway access, but there are also roads that follow the railway at some distance. To the exterior of the continent, they are continued with a plateau, also very good for constructions, but used mostly for parks, gardens and forests, sometimes with an incredible design.

Mountain Ridge is the bigest natural obstacle in all continents. These are the longest and the highest mountains in Second Life. No road passes from inner plains to outer plains, except along the coast. Only in East, the Mountain Railway climbs the high Pavonia Pass and allows access to Bembecia Hights. However, road 6 gives access to many mountain sims (walks at the bottom of the mountain ridge, without passing over it).

Low Outer Mountains are on the exterior side of the mountains. Unlike the inner mountains, they don't form a large plateau, but a lot of hills. In West, there are some sims without direct road or railway access, they are the most unpopulated sims in Heterocera. To East, they are full of railways and form a paradise for railroaders. The altitude slowly decrease to the coast plains.

By far, the most impressive of all are the structures found in the mittle, the central mountain range.

Central Mountain Range

This structure is highly visible between Nolidae sim in East and Athetis sim in West, as a high natural obstacle. It is continued in South even after these two sims, but it is not so impressive.

Its structure is one very complex. It can be divided in two large parts.

In East Range, altitude is unusually high. At Nolidae, it has 126 meters, but soon after that, after only two sims, it reaches 300 meters. It is not very sharp, it is easy to walk on its top, but it becomes really difficult to climb from South or North. Then, in Campion sim, there is the highest mountain. It is clearly visible as a very high place. On its top there is Castle Bella, a fortress. The mountain is also knowned as Castle Bella (even if the official name is Campion). To West, other peaks can be visible, where altitude rises above 300 meters: 357 in Campanula, 341 in Phasma and finally 302 in Plebeja. The mountains in Campanula and Phasma sims are visible on the map in North. Between them, there is a passage of 290 meters high.

Most notable is that all mountains found in East Range have a high declivity, so that it is really difficult to climb them by foot. Sometimes, it is impossible to climb in a straight line.

West Range is much lower. They are separated visible by the high mountain of Plebeja. Their altitude is usually below 200 meters. Near Plebeja, there is a maximum altitude in Astylus sim (191 meters), followed by a gap (163 meters). Other notable altitudes are 185 meters in Fucosa, 222 meters in Lota (maximum altitude in West Range) and 140 meters in Deltote. Then, altitude slowly decreases until it raches 120 meters.

In West Range, declivity is much smaller. It is more easy to climb the mountains by foot then in East. Mountain range is not as wide and it is not such an obstacle for air circulation. Even more, it ends in a forest.

Both ranges have something in common. The declivity is more pronounced on the inner side of the atoll and less pronounced on the outer side of the atoll.

Accesibility

There are multiple ways to visit the mountains. Access is possible by road, by railway or by foot. Protected Land parcels are present and allow an easy access way. Abandoned Land is also present and can be used as an alternative way to travel. Inhabited Land is usually passable, only in special cases Land With Restricted Access can be found.

Tourism

Mountains are so large that there are a few available touristic paths. A trip to these mountains can be done by train, by car, by motorbike, by horse or (more likely) by foot. It is recommended that you also have wings in some places, to get accross some parcels with restricted access. Keeping in mind that these mountains are very long, a trip might take up to an hour.

The following touristic routes are described in a similar way to that of a touristc guide.

Touristic route 1 - mountain railway, mountain road and mountain tunnel
Touristic route 2 - along the high peaks
Touristic route 3 - from Burnott to Taeniatum accross the mountains
Touristic route 4 - through Plebeja Mountain Retreat
Touristic route 5 (border contact) - along the railway
Touristic route 6 (border contact) - along road 3
Touristic route 7 - ways to get to Casa Bella
Touristic route 8 - a contact with West Range

Tourist Route 1

This is basically the road 6 (mountain road), but with small extensions.

We will start the journey at Crenulate railway station. This is because from Crenulate starts The Mountain Railway, Crenulate - Pavonia. If you don't have a train, don't worry. Every 3 minutes there is an automated train moving on this rail. The train will start climing from Crenulate to Pavonia. There are two smaller station, Bauerhoff (German-themed) and Parantherne. From Parantherne, small rails climb up to Bembecia and Hooktip, to a gigantic railway maze. But, if you want to get your train to whistle the cold air of the mountains, just before entering Pavonia station, go right at the last junction, to Pavonia Pass. A rusted railway passes over a wood mill and a lake, on a wooden bridge. It worth a visit, even without a train. Then, it continues East until it reaches Bembecia town.

Now, after we seen the bridge, it's time to return to Pavonia station. Railway ends here, at a big building. But, if we continue forward, there is a rusted tractor just behind the building. A small path can be visible at right, it will take you to a village, mountain rural villages of Pavonia and Saturnia. There are many things to visit there. But we go forward and a bit to left. Soon, a country road starts to take shape. First, there are no car tracks, all is covered with grass. Then, a very damaged country road becomes visible. This is road 6, Mountain Road, that will take us closer to the mountains.

Road 6 is not a place for fast cars. It is in fact a good place to go by foot, by motorbike, by mountain bycicle, by foot or with a land rover. There are vehicle rezz zones. The road is almost entirely a country road, unpaved and unasphalted.

After we started our jurney in Nolidae, the mountains are highly visible. Declivity is so high that land becomes almost vertical. Road is fixed with wood logs and only on rare occasions with concrete. Then, at the border to Perizoma sim, road passes over a long wood bridge. Altitude here reaches 150 meters. Another long wood bridge is visible soon. We enter Campion sim. Here, a sign announces us that we are passing mount Champion, the highest mainland mountain. It is also the highest mountain of the whole grid, not only mainland. If your feet are strong enough, you can try climbing to the top. But, more easy is to visit this mountain by touristic route 2.

Now, we continue our jurney along route 6. Between Champion and Campanula, it circles around a depression, offering a large visibility to the nearby mountains.

We pass over other bridges, where the road could not be built another way. Sometimes there are places where any traveler can stop and relax. More even, the landscapes deserve a look. From the road, anybody can see the lower inner mountains, to the railway. If we have a car, it is recommended to go slow, because the road is full with holes. Plenty of time to watch the landscape. And not only. There is a tunnel, the only road tunnel on Heterocera.

Then, in Plebeja, something changes. There is visible a path to left. It is built of concret, but without stairs. If time allows, we can walk along this path. It will take us from 140 meters to 302 meters high, but not just once. There are are multiple stops along the path. Up, on mountain top, there is Simple's Mountain Retreat. The path continues to North (see path 4).

But we continue our jurney along road 6. After leaving Plebeja sim, we enter in the Western part of the mountain range. This is visible because declivity is no longer so high. Road is here much easy built. Anykind of pavement ends here. The road is covered with grass. This is a pleasant surprise if you ride a horse, a much softer ground. Trees are all around near the road. From place to place, we can find a log to sit on and relax our feet. We will walk a long distance on this smooth pavement, until things will change. On left, columns of marble are visible, while on right the mountains are much smaller. Here, you can climb them to the top of the mountain range at any moment to take a picture. Then, for a small sector, road is paved, but not as large as required for a trunk to drive.

Nature lovers will have another surprise: Sometimes, the road is passed by some sort of bugs and even by rats that soon vanish inside the lush vegetation that has a tendince to block the road.

All changes in Athetis sim. Here starts a long wall. It has 11 sims length (2.8 km) and passes through 13 sims. It has no official name, but can be named Great Heterocera Wall after the much longer Great Chinese Wall. This long wall has a very long inner tunnel. The road enters directly in the tunnel and for a long distance we are surrounded by massive blocks of stone. If you have wings, you can fly to the top of the wall, where is a road. On the top, it looks like on the Great Chinese Wall, only that this one is larger and more shorter. From the bottom, there are holes from place to place. These holes allow a traveler to enter in a hidden chamber and then to exit the wall at its base. We must walk with caution because at sim crossing it is possible to fall between the stones.

The wall ends in Horisme sim. There is an Egyptean temple, with statues and paints. If we walk through the tunnel, it ends into a block of stone. To right, there is a hole that allows access to the temple, 5 meters above ground. If we come by walking above the wall, there is a swiming pool above the temple. We stay a bit to admire the temple, then we walk forward, on the stairs. There are a few pigeons on the stairs that explode when touched.

If you wish to walk along touristic path 1 from West to East, here you have two ways: 1. Enter the temple, then fly through the hole in the right wall. 2. Fly on top of the temple to the swiming pool and take the road from there. If you search the temple, there is a way to enter to an underground chamber, but not to a road.

From the temple, we can continue our jurney on a road. Take the road to left. It will take us through a plateau and some hills to Neumogen railway station. This is a classic, paved, Heterocera road, called Robin Loop. Our jurney ends at Neumogen station. If we walked slowly, it took us more then a SL day.

Tourist Route 2

This is the central mountain range of Heterocera. Almost no roads exist here.

This route is recommended only for those who have strength enough to walk large distances. flying is also required for small distances, so better take some wings inside your package. Parts of this route are common with the first one. This is the best way to get a full contact with the high mountains this continent has.

So, we start our jurney again in Crenulate railway station and we follow the rail to Pavonia and then to Nolidae. This is common with route 1. Now, once we entered Nolidae sim, the mountain range starts to be visible. First, it is very small, but then it grows up to a large mountain. We start to climb by foot or by horse. No vehicle can take us forward here. The mountain range is very sharper in here, but it will get larger. First, it is very easy to get accross parcels of abandoned land. Then, an entity orb forces us to fly fast and in 15 seconds to get to an empty place. Altitude grows higher then 200 meters. A path allows some access and there are a few sheeps around here. In sim Brocade, a path allows access to right, to road 3. In that point altitude is 270 meters and there is an alien where the road ends on the mountain range. Altitudes start to raise above 300 meters.

Here, Campion/Castle Bella mountain is visible and also there is visible a larger structure on top of the mountain. The official name of the mountain is Campion, but the structure on top of the mountain is named Castle Bella. To enter it, we must walk on the left side, with caution not to fall from the mountain. It will be difficult to climb back. The mountain is 364 meters high, but the castle tower rises up to 389 meters. Access in the castle yard is opened for public, but the doors of the castle are locked. There is no problem for us; we take the wings and fly to the top of the tower. The mountain is so high, that nothing is visible down, around the mountain. No building, only ground texture is visible. There are 240 meters to down. The mountain range inside Campion sim is clearly visible. To right, there is visible something like a skybox, with Water, like a swiming pool. On one end, it is in contact with the mountain, but on the other end it is suspended in air. We stay a while to admire the landscape.

From Castle Bella, we continue our jurney along the mountain range. Altitude drops, but not below 300 meters. Soon, we enter Spinach sim. Here, highest altitude is 314 meters. Then, we continue to Campanula, walking along the top of the mountain. In Campanula, there is an important orientation point. A high peak has 357 meters. On its top, there is the highest tree in Second Life, some sort of Sequoia Giganteum. Its top is cut, but still has an altitude of 426 meters. This gives the tree a heigth of 69 meters. From here, we can go left, down, following touristic route 3, to the inner side of the atoll. But we continue following the mountain range.

Another mountain rises, but its altitude could not be measured thanks to some ban lines. It must have around 330 meters. Then, we meet a gap in the mountain range. This is the first placee where altitude drops below 300 meters (actually 290 meters). This is visible on the map inside Phasa sim. From here, if we go right, down, we enter touristic route 3, down to Burnett railway station. From here, we continue our jurney, climbing the high peak in Phasa. Here, altitude rises to 341 meters. There is an airport here, on top of the mountain. It makes no problem for a traveler, there is enough Unused Land on right side.

Landscape is beautifull here. So, it worths a break. After that, we start again our trip. Altitude drops below 200 meters and then rises to 302 meters. This is inside sim Plebeja. Simple's Mountain Retreat is the placee where we meet touristic route 4. This is a place where everybody is welcome. Roads allow access in left to road 6 (touristic route 1) and in right to down the mountain base. They are not actually roads, but paths built with concrete (without stairs). Along them, there are many place where a tired traveler can relax and rest. Also, this is the point where altitude drops, where East Range and West Range meet. To continue our travel, we must use the map and go West, the mountain range is not very visible.

Altitude drops to 191 meters in Astylus sim, the next sim. Differences are very visible. The West Range has lower altitudes. Declivity is smaller, so it is more easy to get down from the mountains and return here. There is a gap in Fucosa sim (163 meters), then altitude rises to 222 meters in Lota.

In Lota and the following sims, there are a few parcels with restricted access. If we try to walk on right side, it is a big misstake. Ban lines will force us to walk more and more to North, until we meet road 3. A better way is to go left, to road 6. About 200 to 300 meters are less accessible. There are also buildings on top of the mountains.

Soon after this, there are two sims: Deltote and Athetis. Altitude drops to 140 meters. road 6 is visible to left and is so close, that it becomes very easy to leave the mountain range and walk directly on the road. The mountain range becomes so small, that it becomes a low hill. The last hundred meter is covered by a forest.

In Athetis, we leave the mountain range and enter Great Heterocera Wall (see touristic route 1). If you want to follow the mountain range, it is not difficult, it still follows 200 meters the wall. From here, touristic route 1 will take us back to the railway, at Neumogen station.

Tourist Route 3

This way we can travel from Burnott railway station to Taeniatum station, accross the mountains. Part of it can be done by land rover (not speed cars), almost all can be done by horse or motorcycle, but the mountains can be climbed only by foot or with the help of a trained, healthy horse. This route includes no road, only some abandoned land parcels and some inhabited land, where the residents allow visitors to enter.

Our jorney starts in north, on the new Great North Railway. Take the train to Burnott station. From here, the best way is to walk by foot or bt horse. Basically, the way to go is South, but it is not required to fix a destination on the map. Just try to get to the highest point. The railway station is at 61 meters high. To South, altitude rises gradually. There is a large and long slice of abandoned land. There are many hills. Always, try only to get to the highest point you see. Soon, we enter the sim Muslin. Altitude rises gradually to 122 meters, on a plateau full with slopes. Then, in Muslin, the mountains start to become visible.

We continue our jurney from Muslin, to meet with road 3 (will be discussed about it as the touristic route 6). We leave the road behind us. The mountains are highly visible now. Soon, we start to climb.

It doesn't matter exactly at what point we start to climb. Almost all this mountain side is abandoned land. It is a difficult climb. Declivity is higher then 70%, so sometimes we need to turn left and right. Climbing in a straight line is really difficult. Don't stop or you will fall back.

After a killing climb, we will reach the top somewhere between Spinach and Phasma (depends). It is not so important where exactly. If you decide to go backwords, the gap in Phasma is the place to go down, then go straight ahead to get to Burnott or Yucca railway station. Here, on the top of the mountains, we meet touristic path 2.

To continue, we go left (East) along the mountains, until we reach the Campanula sim and its mountain. On its top, there is the highest tree in Second Life (described at route 2). From here, following route 2, you can get to Campion/Castle Bella, to the highest mountain. But we continue out jurney.

From the tree in Campanula, we go South (right), down from the mountain. This way, we avoid a few buildings. From place to place, there are terraces that prevent us from free falling. It is easy to go down. We will meet road 6 (touristic route 3) very soon, near the bottom of our fall. There is a place for resting our tired feet near the road.

Then, we leave the road behind and continue forward, through a plateau with some slopes. Somewhere in front of us railway-themed things are visible, including a train and a water tank. That is the sign that a railway is close. And exactly that is. The plateau ends and the railway is in front of us. The low inner mountains of Heterocera are visible, the railway is built just through them. Now, if we follow the railway, to left there is Taeniatum station (closer) and to right there is Sagitatta station.

If you decide to go backwords, the place to start is the halfway between Taeniatum and Sagitatta. Go straight forward to reach the mountains, then start climbing. The problem is that you won't get exactly to that tree.

Tourist Route 4

This route is through Simple's Mountain Retreat, Plebeja. It can be done by foot, not by horse of by vehicle. Almost entire way is through roads and paths.

Our jurney starts at the train station Lapara. This station is placed, like majority of main line stations, inside the Low Inner Mountains of Heterocera. Altitude is 91 meters and you can see to South the massive altitude change to the inner Heterocera plains. From the train station, there are stairs that allow visitors to enter into a beautiful garden. A path will take our steps to a Japanese shirne.

After this small break, we continue our jurney, climbing the mountains. It is recommended to not go forward, but forward-right, to avoid an obstacle. Soon, road 6 (see touristic path 1) is visible. Climbing becomes very hard. Access to the road requires a bit of flying. To left, there is a tunnel, to right, a long bridge. If you go stright forward from the train station, you get stocked at the tunnel, without meeting the road.

Now, we turn left (West), following the road through the tunnel. We have to walk along the road until we meet Plebeja sim. A beautiful waterfall can be seen to right, water is flowing then beneath the road. Then, we meet to right a path built of wood, without stairs, climbing on the mountain. This is our way. We can rest a bit at the intersection. We leave the road behind and start climbing from altitude 143 meters.

A waterfall is visible from the path. We keep following it. Then, at altitude 184 meters, the path ends at a large terrace. This is The Lowgarden. Huge trees stay on guard around us and mountain vegetation is everywhere. Here, we can stay a while and refresh our powers, drink fresh water or heat ourselves at a campfire, before starting climbing again. On the oposite end of the terrace, another wooden path allows us to climb.

Again, at 226 meters, we meet a terrace, this one is The Midgarden. Mountain vegetation is present here too. A waterfall is in front of us. To left, a fountain is welcomed for thirsty people. To right, there is a place to take a nap.

Keep climbing until we get to 262 meters, at The Topgarden. Again, here we have a place to take a seat and to relax. The garden extends to left.

From here, another path is visible to right, made of concrete and circleing around a central concrete pile. It goes both up and down. If you decide to go down, it will take your steps to 222 meters high, to a platform full with gifts. More then 300 free items await here. This place is simply called Welcome. If you go up, at 282 meters you will find a fountain near a waterfall, in a place called The Balcony. Then, we continue our climbing up to 302 meters high in TopFloor. Here is a nice place to relax, looking like a wooden restaurant. This is also a smoking friendly place with a gigantic statue of a pipe. On top of the restaurant, you can go free hanggliding. Now, we are really on top. From here, we can continue climbing the mountain, following tourist path 2, to Lapara airport and then to Campion/Castle Bella mountain.

Now, we return to the low garden. Here, once we finished entered the garden, we don't continue following the stairs down to road 6. We just go North, entering parcels of abandoned land. Here are the low outer mountains, they look more like hills. A few problems will be close to the road, where some ban lines force us to fly. We will reach road 3, close to the intersection with 3A (touristic path 6). Here, our jurney ends. It is difficult to continue our jurney to North and reach the terminal railway station Yucca by simple walking accross the hills.

Tourist Route 5

(border contact) - along the railway

Tourist Route 6

(border contact) - along road 3

Tourist Route 7

ways to get to Casa Bella

Tourist Route 8

a contact with West Range