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the Degree Confluence Project
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United States : California

2.4 miles (3.9 km) W of Kettleman City, Kings, CA, USA
Approx. altitude: 195 m (639 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap topo aerial ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 36°S 60°E

Accuracy: 3 m (9 ft)
Quality: good

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

#2: View East #3: View South #4: View West #5: Ground cover at the confluence point - on a grassy hillside, scorched by a recent fire #6: All zeros! #7: Looking down on the point from 120m above #8: View North from 120m above the point #9: View East from 120m above the point #10: View South from 120m above the point #11: View West from 120m above the point

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  36°N 120°W (visit #8)  

#1: The confluence point lies on a hillside, scorched by a grass fire two months earlier.  (This is also a view to the North, towards Interstate 5 and the Central Valley.)

(visited by Ross Finlayson)

21-Oct-2018 -- Almost two weeks earlier, while driving from the San Francisco Bay Area down to southern California, I was surprised to see that this area - to the west of Interstate 5 - had recently been scorched by a grass fire. I later learned, from an Internet search, that the fire had burned on 6 August 2018, two months ago. Although I had visited this point twice before (including the most recent visit, in 2011), I had to revisit this point during my drive home to see what had happened (and also get a drone’s-eye view).

Once again, I parked at the locked gate on Milham Road, west of the town of Kettleman City, and next to the I-5 freeway. This is 1 mile from the point. (Unlike some earlier visitors, I didn’t see any “No Trespassing” signs at the gate; Millham Road - although gated closed here - appears to be a public road.) Hiking westward along Milham Road, I could see that it had served as a fire break. All of the ground south of Milham Road - including the Degree Confluence Point - had been scorched; the ground north of Milham Road remained untouched.

Wildfires are common in California. After my earlier visits to 41N 122W and 38N 120W, this was my third visit to a California Degree Confluence Point that had recently been consumed by a wildfire.

Here is a remote-controlled aerial video of this confluence point.


 All pictures
#1: The confluence point lies on a hillside, scorched by a grass fire two months earlier. (This is also a view to the North, towards Interstate 5 and the Central Valley.)
#2: View East
#3: View South
#4: View West
#5: Ground cover at the confluence point - on a grassy hillside, scorched by a recent fire
#6: All zeros!
#7: Looking down on the point from 120m above
#8: View North from 120m above the point
#9: View East from 120m above the point
#10: View South from 120m above the point
#11: View West from 120m above the point
ALL: All pictures on one page