10-Jul-2005 -- While I was traveling from my home in Takoma Park, Maryland, to attend a scientific conference near New York City, I took the opportunity to visit two New Jersey confluences, 41N 75W and 41N 74W. 41N 75W is located in a rural part of northwestern New Jersey, not far from the Delaware River and the Appalachian Trail. I crossed from Pennsylvania into New Jersey on Interstate 80, then got on NJ Route 94 heading northeast towards Blairstown.

Maps of the area show that it is possible to get within about 1 km of the confluence by road. There are several possible approaches; I chose to approach from the northeast, since this involved the smallest change in elevation between the road and the confluence. It is also possible to reach the confluence by following power lines; the topo map shows a power line that passes very close to the confluence and crosses two nearby roads. Evidently, the previous visitors to this confluence approached it by following this power line from the west.

After following Route 94 for about 6.5 miles, I turned left on Cobblewood Road, followed it for about 1.5 miles, and turned left on Four Corners Road. After about half a mile, I parked the car and looked for a suitable place to enter the woods. All of the land here appeared to be private, and most of it was posted. Fortunately, I was able to find a woods road leading in the right direction, and I didn't see any posted signs in the vicinity. At this point, I was 1.04 km northeast of the confluence.

I followed the woods road into the forest, hoping it would take me reasonably close to the confluence. Unfortunately, the trail petered out after only a couple hundred meters. I continued on in the same general direction, climbing over several rock walls. The woods were relatively sparse and the terrain gently sloping, so the going was still fairly easy. As I continued, however, the ground vegetation became thicker, and it looked as if there had recently been a swamp or standing water here. My progress slowed considerably, and to make matters worse, mosquitoes began biting me in droves. I tried to avoid the worst of the swampy ground, but there wasn't much choice if I wanted to continue in the direction of the confluence. Eventually, I stumbled upon another woods road and saw a brightly sunlit clearing ahead. Suddenly, I realized that I had reached the clearing for the power lines! The rest, I figured, would be easy. I was now 340 meters from the confluence.

I followed the well-worn trail uphill towards the confluence. As it turned out, getting close to it was easy, but actually getting to it (according to my GPS) required me to trudge through chest-high brambles and other dense vegetation. I did manage to get within a couple of meters, but I was close to the edge of the woods, and there was enough GPS drift that I wasn't optimistic about my chances of getting all zeroes. Also, standing in the middle of this dense vegetation, I was getting bitten up by horse flies. I decided to go back out to the trail, where the closest approach was about 19 meters. From there, I took my pictures, then began heading back.

When I reached the spot where I had first entered the power line clearing, I had to decide whether to continue following the power lines, which would lead me back to the road (albeit about half a mile from where I had parked), or go back into the woods and try to retrace my steps. Remembering how laborious my trek through the woods had been in places, I decided to follow the power lines. Unfortunately, the trail became increasingly overgrown, and I hadn't gotten very far when it became all but impassable. I climbed over a rock wall, back into the woods, and followed my GPS toward the waypoint I had marked at my car. Here, the land was posted, so I tried to stay as far as possible from any houses. Eventually, I got back out to the road, within sight of my car. I immediately checked my skin for ticks, and found three of them. Fortunately, they hadn't been there long enough to attach themselves. This is prime deer territory (I saw five deer while I was in the woods) and I had gone through thick bushes wearing shorts and without insect repellent. I guess I was lucky to have gotten only three ticks on me.

Exhausted and dehydrated, I got back in the car and returned to a truck stop I had seen near the interchange between Route 94 and I-80. After refreshing myself there, I headed east on I-80 toward New York City.