10-Feb-2016 -- This is the fourth out of seven reports on confluence visits during a car trip across the USA. The story starts at 39°N 77°W and continues from 34°N 84°W.
After visiting The World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta, followed by an early dinner in an Ethiopian restaurant, there was still enough daylight to visit this confluence point which is located an hour drive south-west on I-85 from Atlanta. This confluence is only 500 m short of I-85 in an urban area - I thought. But at the distance of 300 m to the confluence, the road suddenly ended (despite Google maps showing a network of roads). Ahead of us was a huge terrain containing prepared infrastructure for future housing. Even the street lights were already turned on! From previous visits I learned that this infrastructure must have been set up between 5 to 10 years ago. I can’t believe the waste of energy with streetlights on – in particular because there are no streets! We had to climb over a hilly and muddy terrain with little pine trees. At the size of the trees it can be derived how long the negligence had already been going on.
The confluence is located just 3 m off the edge of the developing area in a dense and thorny thicket. While trying to overcome these missing 3 m in order to get a zero reading, I almost racked my jacket. At the confluence point, there is a tiny black fence preventing salamanders to enter and impact the development area.
After the visit we crossed the state line into Alabama and stayed in a motel in the town Opelika.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 300 m
- Distance to a footpath: 300 m
- Distance of car parking: 300 m
- Time to reach the CP from the road: 10 min
- Time at the CP: 6:15 PM
- Measured height: 197 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 3 m
- Position accuracy: 3 m
- Topography: located near an urban development area with slightly hilly terrain
- Vegetation: thorny bushes, pine trees
- Weather: sunny 12° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Lights On Confluence
The story continues at 30°N 90°W.