#5: [30-Jun-06]

#4: [22-Aug-05]

#3: [27-Apr-03]

#2: [06-Oct-01]

#1: [04-Jul-00]

10-Nov-2006 --

This is my first confluence visit with family members. The narratives from the prior visits indicated that this was a relatively easy point to reach. As a result, I was fairly confident that if I found the right roads, my 5 and 3 year-old boys could make the approximately ½ mile hike to/from the confluence point (each way) without too much trouble.

As mentioned in the earlier visits, the easiest route seems to be off I-80, at Exit 62 (picture #7). Following the advice given by Shawn Fleming (earlier visit), we stayed on the paved road until we were slightly north, and a few miles east, of the confluence point. At that point, we headed west-southwest until we were approximately ½ mile west of the point. I could have tried to drive closer, following a fairly beat up dirt path, but did not want to push my luck with the small car.

We got out of the car, bundled up (it was about 40 – 45 degrees, plus wind at about 5-10 m.p.h.), and started walking. There were plenty of bushes with tiny, sharp thorns – which my children did not appreciate. We also had to hike over a small ridge. However, we seemed to hit the confluence point in just about 20 minutes after we left the car.

I tried my best to explain to the boys where we were going, and why. I’m certain they did not fully comprehend the concept of the Degree Confluence Project. However, they seemed perfectly content with dad’s "We’re going on an adventure" speech.

We did not see any antelope, as mentioned by the previous visitors. We did see the cairn left by a previous visitor (picture #5). After spending about 20 minutes at the confluence point taking pictures and looking through the binoculars, we headed back to the car.

I was surprised at how isolated this area seemed to be. Especially considering that we were only about 15 miles off I-80. We didn’t see a single vehicle or person from the moment we exited off I-80. The oldest boy actually said, "Dad, it's really quiet here….. Too quiet."

Hopefully, this is the first of many family confluence visits!