17-Jul-2024 -- As a run-up to my 77th birthday, we headed to the great plains to climb the highest peaks in both North and South Dakota. Other than on visits to all of the nearby national parks, we had not previously spent much time in this neck of the woods. The last 15 months spent living with acute myeloid leukemia has driven home the point I am now at best a semi-retired confluence hunter, and my best days with this hobby/obsession are behind me.

However, we could not help but notice that once we left I-76 and turned north at Sterling CO, until our return to the Denver airport, we would be in the vicinity of the 103rd meridian, a longitude we had not previously documented. Closer study revealed adding on to our core itinerary, it would not only be possible, but entirely reasonable to visit four different latitude crossings of 103°W on four different days, in four separate states (41°N, 42°N, 44°N, & 46°N). Previously, DCP stalwarts Gavin Roy, Ross Finlayson, and Joseph Kerski have recorded nine trips to these four points, so they are all well documented (Kerski has visited all four, two on multiple occasions). However, the most recent visits at each were pre-Covid, 2019 or earlier. The time seemed propitious for an update! And with my success this trip, I now have visited a confluence in 39 of the 47 states containing one.

Our Day 2 began in Gering NE, where foggy conditions quickly scuttled our sightseeing plans for Scotts Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock National Historic Site. Instead, we headed east to US 385 (the “Heartland Expressway”), where we turned northeast.

Just past 42°N and after entering Box Butte County, Wayne Road parallels the county line as it heads west. The south side of Wayne Road features a few residences and a number of irrigation circles. Further south are grazing fields, those closest to the road containing a goodly number of cattle. In my younger days, I supported the “easier to get forgiveness than permission” school of thought, but lately I have moved more to the “get permission” camp. We therefore began knocking on the doors closest to the confluence point. Unfortunately, we found no one home. We gazed longingly down a few farm roads, looking for one that might be “cattle-free” until the sandhills. The most promising one was also the only one with “No Trespassing/No Hunting” signs; and although the tree to which the signs were attached had long since given up the ghost [Photo 8], we decided to err on the side of caution and save this point for another day.

Very disappointed, we stopped at a local coffee shop just up the road in Alliance. A young man’s question “What brings you here from Mississippi?” led to a discussion of our abandoned mission (“Oh, you mean like geocaching?”), followed by “I have a high school friend who lives on Wayne Road, let me give him a call. And if he can’t help, my mother knows everybody…” By the time Cynthia had finished her coffee, and after numerous phone calls, we had received everyone’s collective blessing, and we were back south on US-385 for a Second Attempt.

Off Wayne Road, we followed a farm road about a mile south, parking at the first gate we encountered. After crawling under a barbed wire fence, the first half of our hike was across a flat area where we were serenaded by the yipping bark of prairie dogs [Photo 9]. We then started hiking into the sandhills. The red box in Photo 10 shows the second barbed wire fence we headed for, after which the hills got a little steeper. The cow paths were numerous, giving the landscape a terraced look. Some of these paths were well established, but none of them seemed to go in the direction we needed. Climbing the last ridge (seen just above the red box in Photo 10) was difficult due to the heat and steep, backsliding sand, but we found the confluence point just over the top, on an equally steep south-facing slope.

The steep gradient and soft sand made the GPS dance problematic, but patience and very small correcting steps rewarded us with all zeroes and accuracy just under two meters. A low yucca plant seemed to mark the exact location. The bright sun (which my doctors now tell me to avoid!) made the 80°F temperature seem warmer, but at least the heat was tempered by a slight breeze. The only sound was the mooing of the few distant cattle in this section, who were attracted by our presence.

Now way behind schedule, we did not tarry long. We still wanted to stop at the iconic, uniquely American, Carhenge, just outside Alliance; and both the city (Belle Fourche, SD) and country version (“Middle of Nowhere, SD”) of the “Geographic Center of the United States. Another long day ended in Bowman, ND.