28-Jan-2001 -- On Sunday, 28 January 2001, Joe Dean, Bob Babington and Bob Reneau completed the successful pursuit of the confluence 32 North 107 West. We met in the small town of Anthony, NM/TX. Anthony straddles the New Mexico/Texas border where 32 North latitude determines the border between New Mexico, to the north and Texas, to the south. Anthony is 23.8 miles east of the confluence at the same latitude and is the closest city of any size.

It is lightly raining and the weather forecast is not promising, but the skies to the west look promising, so we decided it is now or never. After leaving Anthony we travel northwest 10.4 miles to Afton Road, and over the Rio Grande River. Afton Road is one of the few routes out of the Rio Grande Valley up to the Mesa (Spanish for table) to the West. We stay on Afton road for another 11.3 miles, turning south to Nunn Ranch (4.5 Miles) and then West 2.2 miles to the only access across the railroad tracks.

From there we travel 2.8 miles to Braid Foot ranch. The foreman, Dave Macintosh (thanks Dave), granted us permission to travel through the ranch and the combination to the padlock on a gate on the western perimeter of the ranch. From the ranch headquarters we travel 6.1 miles to a point about .6 of a mile from the confluence. The roads to the ranch headquarters are well maintained, but this point is nothing more than ruts and would be almost impossible to travel after a heavy downpour. As we arrive at our waypoint to start our hike to the confluence, the skies clear and allow the sun to reach the desert floor. After leaving the ranch headquarters we see many jackrabbits and several raptors on way. The only other wildlife we observe is a lone coyote on the return trip.

Our hike took us over landscape that is relatively level and is covered with mesquite, creosote bushes, and many small to moderate sized lava rocks that were probably hurled by an ancient volcanic eruption. This high mesa area (4200+ ft.) is part of the Potrillo Volcanic Field.

We find the confluence without much difficulty. It is at the Northeast edge of a large creosote bush. Using 3 GPS handhelds; a Garmin 12XL, a Garmin eMap and a Magellan, we verified the exact indicated location. After taking about 30 pictures, we construct a small pyramid marker of lava rocks with a hidden treasure for future confluence seekers.

After documenting the confluence, we visit Kilbourne Hole, which is about 2.8 miles Southeast of the confluence. It is an ancient maar volcanic crater that is popular with local rockhounds searching for peridotite and semi-precious green olivine. The picture of Kilbourne Hole is taken from the Northeast rim of the crater.

Our timing is almost perfect. As we pulled into the parking lot where we started, it begins to rain. Overall it has been a fun day and we are looking forward to visiting our next confluence.