20-Jan-2001 -- While on a weekend visit to my old stomping grounds of Butte,
Montana, my good friend Les Chagnon and I decided to bag our first
confluence point and only the third in Montana. The point is located
approx. 10 miles SSW of Anaconda Montana and roughly 400 yards off a
very scenic 2-lane blacktop known as the Mill Creek Road.
Our chosen day of January 20th dawned bright and blue, which was a
clear sign fate was with us as the previous day was most notable for its
lead grey skies and periodic snow squalls. A quick 40 mile drive from
Butte brought us to the correct stretch of the Mill Creek Road closest
to 46N 113W. Our first obstacle was picking a parking spot along the
snowy shoulder of the road. Our second became immediately apparent the
moment we stepped off the road into knee deep snow. It's been a fairly
dry winter in Montana, but I still should have remembered to bring the
snowshoes. Fortunately that same level of snowfall makes the area quite
popular for snowmobiling and we were able to follow their numerous
tracks to within 50 feet of the confluence point. Although we could hear
plenty of snowmobiles playing in the area, none came by as we walked to
the point. Which was fine with me - this was my first confluence
attempt, and I didn't have a snappy explanation for what we were doing
yet.
By carefully watching the GPS as well as shrewdly eyeballing where
the point was going to fall, we were able to make a nice "X Marks
The Spot" in the snow with only a few stray tracks to mar the scene
- winter confluence hunting does have a certain aesthetic appeal. After
some quick photos (now I wish I had taken more) we cruised back to the
truck and made the scenic loop down the Big Hole River and returned to
Butte.