04-Aug-2001 -- This was the beginning of a trek to do 5 secondary
confluences along the Canada/US border. The trip down was
quite warm, ending at 38C in Medicine Hat the night before
(with no air conditioning). A pleasant drive through the
Cypress Hills and then on to Wildhorse Crossing.
Most
Canadians learn in school, that the Canada/US border sits
on 49 North in western Canada. This entire trip shows that
this is only approximately true. In western Canada, the
border lies slightly south of 49 North. All confluence
points reached on this trip were reached by driving in
Alberta to close to the point, and then proceeding on
foot. It was quite apparent that much of the country
visited has been suffering drought conditions for some time.
On the walk back to the truck, I walked across 5 lakes which
were completely dry! I picked up a couple of blisters on
the hike, which lasted through the remaining 4 confluences
visited this weekend.
The point 49N110W has an international boundary marker at:
48 59' 58.7", 110 0' 3.1". The UTM for the point is
573078m Easting, 5427898 Northing, 856m Elevation. A 8km
walk from the point I had driven to.