05-Oct-2013 -- From looking at maps - plus the reports from the previous visitors - I knew that visiting this confluence point would require a day-long excursion. I deliberately chose a day in the Autumn, to avoid both excessive heat and cold, and to make it less likely that I'd find washed-out dirt roads. Unfortunately, however, I wasn't able to get close enough to the confluence point to have time to hike there-and-back before sunset, so I ended up treating this as a 'scouting expedition' - literally, an 'incomplete' visit that I hope to complete on some future date.

From Reno, I made the long drive on I-80 eastbound to take the Coal Canyon exit, a few miles past the small town of Lovelock. Satellite imagery suggested that I could get close to the point by driving through Anderson Ranch (which is northwest of the confluence point), so that's what I tried first. Unfortunately, when I got the ranch I found a gate with a "No Trespassing" sign, so I backtracked to attempt 'plan B': Find a route from the northeast, starting from the road towards Dixie Valley.

This time I had a little more success, but still wasn't able to drive closer than 3.5 miles from the confluence point. I turned off the 'main' road onto a narrow, rocky dirt road at [40.10031,-118.01688]. This road took me past old mine tailings to an old mine site (the "Green Gold Mine", according to my map) at [40.05183,-118.00813]. Near this point I saw an old, dilapidated miner's hut, an old water tank, and a fenced-off entrance to an old mineshaft. At this point, I was still 3.5 miles north of the confluence point, at an elevation of 4741' (almost 3000' lower than the confluence point). From this point, the path south through the canyon ("New York Canyon", according to my map) became too narrow to drive.

I think I might have gotten closer to the confluence point (perhaps to the point 1.1 miles away reported by previous visitors) if I had instead continued westward. Unfortunately the route shown on satellite imagery appears to cross an earthen dam across the canyon; this dam is now much too narrow to drive a truck or SUV across.

Alternatively I could have driven a bit farther south, higher up the hill (as there are steep roads that continue partway up the hill). That wouldn't gain me much elevation, though, because I'd still have to hike back down partway into the canyon before continuing towards the confluence point.

But I think that the "Green Gold Mine" (at [40.05183,-118.00813]) would be a reasonable place to start a future hike towards the confluence point. Hiking up "New York Canyon" would be tough (about 4 miles, 3000' elevation differential each way), but it appears (from satellite imagery) that one could hike directly up onto Table Mountain by following this drainage. So that will likely be the route that I'll take on my next attempt to reach this confluence point.