#1: [29-Apr-01]

16-Jul-2018 -- It would be a race against daylight to reach this point following a successful visit to 42N 107W.

From Interstate 80, we turned north on US-287 at Rawlins and then west onto Mineral Exploration Road (Road 63) then south onto Wamsutter-Crooks Gap Road until the intersection with a double track where we parked about 1900 meters from the confluence.

I set out at a fast pace along the double track and then continued direct northwest across relatively flat and sandy terrain. The sun had just set a couple minutes before I accomplished my confluence dance and found all zeroes.

I quickly took my pictures in the fading light then sent a SPOT message and captured GPS data on my Trimble Receiver. There was a tower visible at some sort of industrial plant to the northeast. Except for the road, this was the only man-made structure we saw since turning off US-287. While driving on Mineral Exploration Road we saw lots of wildlife – a large herd of wild horses and dozens of antelope – all very cool! We did not see another person or vehicle until we were turning back onto the Interstate at Wamsutter.

I followed a baby Moon on my hike back to the east and where I parked. My wife radioed that she saw my headlamp as I crested a small ridge on my way back. It was completely dark by the time I made it back to our vehicle.

We continued south on the fairly decent dirt Wamsutter-Crooks Gap Road. Although it was dark and we were unable to see, this is definitely oil country. Google Imagery shows the area scattered with oil wells and, as we approached Wamsutter, the brightly illuminated BP Wamsutter Operations Center and several large tanks prominently announced the town.

Post processing of the GPS data (400 positions) reveals that my Trimble GPS receiver was 2.6 meters bearing 113 degrees from the actual confluence with a Horizontal Precision of 2.3 meters.

The total time from where I parked was just over an hour and 2.8 miles round trip. It then took us 45 minutes to travel the 23 miles south back to the Interstate. This would be the preferable approach if traveling east along Interstate 80.

We spent the night in Green River before our next adventure at 42N 110W!