#3: [05-Aug-21]

#2: [20-May-11]

#1: [07-Aug-00]

02-Aug-2022 -- As we were on a wonderful self guided journey through Iowa, and as the journey focused on the physical and cultural geography of the state and region, a confluence visit seemed like the perfect addition to such a journey. Thus, following our walkabout in the town of Le Mars Iowa, which included the Blue Bunny ice cream parlor and museum, and the excellent city public library, we set off to the northeast on State Highway 60 to Alton. At Alton we exited the highway and drove west on Highway 10, then northeast on Kennedy Avenue, which was a dirt road. A campground is visible from the turnoff to Kennedy, and it looks like a nice one, so you could camp within a few hundred meters of this confluence point!

Upon turning northwest and parking in Andrews Court, which ends in a cul-de-sac surrounded by some lovely homes, we immediately noticed the landowner to the north mowing his lawn. I went over and spoke with him and told him our purpose; we had a nice chat about geography and history. The temperature stood in the upper-90s F on an afternoon under absolutely cloudless skies but very stiff hot breezes. We saw no animals but spotted a few birds in the distance. Thus it was a blazing hot, clear, and windy midwest day just after midsummer. The land slopes to the north here but as it is the northwest and flattest part of Iowa, the slope is modest. The view is nevertheless quite magnificent to the north, stretching for many miles, less so to the east due to the embankment of the highway in that direction.

We found the confluence point on this particular day about 2 meters south of the curb in the vacant lot on the southwest side of the street. It will be vacant only briefly: It is for sale! You could buy this lot and have the confluence point in your own front yard! Woody noted the prices during his visit here last year and I wondered if the prices have gone up since then.

No trees obstructed us but for some reason it took awhile to zero out the GPS receiver. It was also challenging due to the wind to hold our paper signs. This was my first confluence in Iowa since 2021 when I visited 3 points along 42 North. This was my first point in the state along 43 North; I have all of the points along 41 North and 42 North in the state. It was good to be back in Iowa! I have visited 43 North in many other states, all across North America, from Idaho on the west to New Hampshire on the east, in the USA. I have also stood on 96 West many times in the past, from Minnesota on the north end to Texas in the south. Each point is unique and makes for great stories. This was my 8th confluence visit of 2022, markedly different from my pinon juniper high desert hike to 38 North 109 West, which was my last visit, in June on the Colorado-Utah border. This year I also visited a pistachio orchard in Greece, a hillside in Austria, a snowy forest in Minnesota, and other wild places. We took photos and a video which I have placed on my Our Earth channel, here. Enjoy!

As we were bidding the landowner farewell, he dove into his house and reappeared to give us a book on the settlement and history of this region, which he himself wrote! I began reading it that evening and it is indeed wonderful. This was the best part of our visit--the kindness of the author and our conversation with him. We were reluctant to depart but our next geographic adventure awaited--visiting Hawkeye Point, the highest point in Iowa! Thus we bade the landowner farewell and left the way we had come in, quite a bit windblown and sun-beaten but feeling centered.