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the Degree Confluence Project
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United States : California

10.4 miles (16.7 km) SW of Inverness, Marin, CA, USA
Approx. altitude: 102 m (334 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap topo aerial ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 38°S 57°E

Accuracy: 10 m (32 ft)
Quality: good

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

#2: View north #3: View east #4: View south #5: GPS solutions #6: Garmin girls at another confluence!

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  38°N 123°W (visit #6)  

#1: View west

(visited by Shawn Fleming)

14-Apr-2004 -- It was my daughters' Spring Break and time for another California Confluence Adventure! 38n-123w would be the fifth of seven confluence attempts for this trip. We had spent the night at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast in Olema and began our adventure at Point Reyes at the Bear Valley Visitors Center. You can visit their website for more information before you go.

What a beautiful day! What a beautiful area! Open spaces, brilliant greens (when you live in the desert you notice these things…) and all less than an hour from one of the most populous places in California. The Visitor Center sits atop the San Andreas Fault. There is a short Earthquake trail you can take that shows displacements from the great 1906 earthquake. To get to the lighthouse and the confluence, simply follow Sir Francis Drake Boulevard south through the lettered dairy farms.

We stopped at the authorized vehicles only road due south of the confluence and would hike the remaining way to the confluence. Up and over a small rise, we startled three Tule elk to the delight of my daughters (I was expecting cows!). The confluence itself is easily located on a northerly facing slope in the grass.

Picture #1 looks west towards the Pacific Ocean. Picture #2 looks north across a small pond and some cows. Picture #3 looks east back towards the last lettered dairy farm. Picture #4 looks south. Just over that hill is the road leading to the lighthouse. Picture #5 shows the GPS proof of our visit. Picture #6 shows my Garmin girls after completing their confluence dance.

Mindful of the park warnings about Lyme disease, we checked for ticks after we got back to our Eurovan. Continuing towards the lighthouse, we were disappointed to learn that the lighthouse and stairs leading down to it are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Rats!

After the short hike to the lighthouse overlook and some more pictures, we started out of the park. Alongside the road, we stopped and witnessed a newly born calf being licked clean by its mother for about 20 minutes. It was like a live version of Animal Planet right outside our window!

You could easily spend all day here in the park. Definitely a place to come back to!

That makes four of five successful visits so far for the trip. Onward to 39n-123w!


 All pictures
#1: View west
#2: View north
#3: View east
#4: View south
#5: GPS solutions
#6: Garmin girls at another confluence!
ALL: All pictures on one page
  Notes
Located at the tip of the Point Reyes Peninsula in Point Reyes National Seashore.