#1: [23-Jan-01]

27-May-2023 -- It had been two years since I had the opportunity to take a multi day trip just for collecting confluence points, seeing the landscape, and meeting local people. Finally the opportunity arose. My goal was to connect my Minnesota points to the points east and south and west, in Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. To fill those gaps would require some planning but could be quite fun and doable. Thus after flying to Sioux Falls the previous day and visiting 3 points that day, including 1 in Minnesota and 2 in Iowa, today my goal was to at least visit the remaining 2 points in Iowa that I had not yet visited, along 43 North Latitude. That was done---now I had visited all 16 points in Iowa over the span of 20 years.

I then drove into Minnesota, and thus, after visiting 44 North 92 West in that state, it was early afternoon and I crossed into Wisconsin at Winona. Following this, the Wisconsin route encompassed beautiful terrain--along State 35, State 93, County T, State 108, then southeast along a wonderful valley on County DE and Herman Coulee Road. My goal was to park on this road south of the confluence and walk north on what I hoped was a trail, but I could not determine this on the satellite image and would have to find out. Apparently, this was the way the previous visitors had come as well, in winter, over 20 years before. Once at my hike starting point, I turned around, parked on the shoulder, and was heartened: Not only did a trail exist, but it was a four wheel drive trail, quite wide, no doubt to service the fields on the higher elevations to the north. As I was hiking up this fairly steep trail, I was very glad I had not tried to visit here in February this year, when I was in the area. I had been eyeing it then, but I never would have made it up this slope in winter, and the winding road in the valley below would have made for scary driving on the ice. Today was the perfect day and season to do this--not too hot, marvelous blue skies, and upon reaching the field of pasture grasses to the north, I decided that out of the 15 points I was visiting over a four-day time span, that this was absolutely the most beautiful. There were patches of woodland scattered on the slopes and a wonderful rolling field of grasses, some of which were bundled into tootsie-roll style shapes every so often. Marvelous.

I skirted the field on its southerly wooded edge, bending to the east, and reached the confluence point after about 15 minutes after arriving in the field. The confluence lies on the southern end of a swath of cleared land, at the forest's edge. I saw no people, animals, or birds. It was about 85 F (29 C) under light winds. It was mid-afternoon in late spring. I thought about the indigenous people who had traversed this area, about the settlers in part from northern and central Europe who settled this area in the 1800s, and of others who visited; those who stayed here on the landscape, enduring all seasons and weather conditions, and those just passing through. This is one of the most beautiful parts of Wisconsin, on the edge of the Driftless Area of hills and river valleys. It was difficult to believe this point had not been visited since 2001. It also looks radically different now than the January day of the previous visitors. I took photos and posted my video on my Our Earth Channel, here.

The best view from the confluence was to the northwest, up the axis of the meadow. A fairly steep hill rose to the north and east. To the south lay the woods. I had stood on 44 North Latitude many times over the past 25 years, from South Dakota on the west to Maine on the east. I had also stood on 91 West several times, from Wisconsin on the north to Louisiana on the south. I was thankful that the point lies in the meadow and not a few meters to the south, which would have involved thorns and limited GPS reception. After spending 15 minutes on the beautiful site, I filmed awhile at a few of the hay bales. Giving one final look at the meadow, I hiked back down the hill to the south. Once back at the vehicle, I set my sights on 45° north latitude, 90° west longitude. It would take me as a diagonal route to the northeast. Would I make it before sundown?

When the trip was all said and done, here are the final statistics:

 
Confluence points attempted:  15.  

Confluence points successfully visited:  15. 

Points where I met the local landowner = 4 of 15 points. 

Miles = 1731, Kilometers = 2785.  

Campgrounds = 3.  

Windy confluence points:  6 of 15.

Beautiful confluence points:   15 of 15.

Kwik Trip convenience store stops = 5.  Casey's = 1.  Circle K = 1.  Flying J = 1.  

Points along 	43 North 4 
		44 North 3 
		45 North 4 
		46 North 1 
		47 North 3 
		-------------
			 15 points.

Points visited on 	Day 1 = 3 
			Day 2 = 5 
			Day 3 = 4 
			Day 4 = 3
		-------------------
			   	15 points.  

Points visited in the 	morning = 	5 
			afternoon = 	7 
			evening = 	3 
		-------------------------------
			   		15 points

Points visited in 	Minnesota =     6
			North Dakota =  2
			Wisconsin =     3 
			Iowa =          4
		-------------------------------
			   		15 points 

Get out there and explore!