#6: [19-Jun-11]

#5: [24-Aug-08]

#4: [24-Jun-07]

#3: [19-Feb-06]

#2: [04-Mar-01]

#1: [10-Sep-99]

20-Apr-2016 -- As I was in the area to give presentations at the University of Wisconsin and learn from the students and faculty there, and as the focus of all of these activities was geospatial technology, I thought that a confluence visit would be the perfect capstone. And so, after my last meeting ended around 6:00pm, I walked back to where I was lodging, picked up the vehicle and began driving out of Madison, southwest and west on US Highway 151. The skies darkened and I experienced periods of showers. Would I make it to the confluence before dark? Would I become drenched?

I enjoyed the trip down the highway through one of the most beautiful parts of the state of Wisconsin, with its rolling hills, barns, and agricultural fields. At the western turn-off to the town of Ridgeway, I turned northeast, and then north. I was now on the north-south road that runs just up the hill from the confluence. Stopping just north of 43 North, I gathered supplies. The rain had slackened. There, I took a few photographs of the GPS receiver, not sure that once I dove into the trees whether I would be able to zero out the GPS. Like many of these confluence visits, as soon as I left the roadway, I was immersed in quite a few thorny vines. Walking through the woods was also a bit difficult, but it did not take long before I was near the point. As I had expected, zeroing out the unit was a challenge, but after about 10 minutes, I was successful, and still had daylight to spare. After 15 years, by now I had a nice collection of confluence points in Wisconsin; a few in the northwest along 45 North, and some near Lake Michigan on the east, and then the point just to the east of this one. I had stood on 43 North many times across the country, from the east coast into Wyoming on the west and beyond into Idaho. I had also stood on 90 West from Minnesota on down to Louisiana. It was good to be back on 90 West--a significant meridian!

The temperature stood at a mild 65 F and a light rain was falling. The photographs, as expected, are not the brightest as a result of the gloomy skies, but all in all, this point was easier than I had anticipated. As I filmed the video, numerous gunshots rang out which are audible on the video. I believe there is a hunting ground surrounding the point. Needless to say, I made as hasty an exit as possible.

After driving back south along the road, I then drove east through Ridgeway on my way back to US 151 for variety and enjoyed seeing the town. The total round trip time came to around 2:30 for this confluence run. I arrived back in Madison and had time to do some final preparations on the following day's work at the University. Get out there and explore the world!