#1: [25-Aug-01]

26-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 today, my day's goal was to visit 44 North 95 West in Minnesota and then visit two of the remaining 4 points in Iowa that I had not yet visited, along 43 North Latitude. Once done, I will have visited all 16 confluence points in Iowa! Thus, earlier this afternoon, I visited the Minnesota point and then 43 North 95 West to the south, in Iowa. It was now nearly 7:00 pm but given that it was one month before the solstice, I had plenty of daylight left as I approached the neighborhood of 43 North 94 West. I passed through West Bend with its lovely Grotto of the Redemption; I wanted to stop but I had been there last year though I would love to return someday. I keep tacking east and north along gravel section-line roads to the neighborhood of the confluence.

It was my original intent to park to the east of the confluence point and walk in from that direction. However, I was not quite sure but it looked like the farmhouse to the south of the confluence was not occupied; perhaps abandoned at least for a short while. Therefore I decided to park to the southwest of the point and walk from there. It would be a bit longer of a walk but I could then pass underneath one of the wind turbines and film some videos for some of my renewable energy lessons. The confluence lies almost in the middle of this particular square mile section. I walked north along the road that accessed the nearest wind turbine, filming it from below. Once the access road gave out, I very gingerly stepped between the rows of the plants so as not to damage any of them, as it was spring and they were newly planted--soybeans right here, from the looks of them. I walked as briskly as I could, though, so as not to run out of daylight, and still not step on any plants.

I walked north on the access road, then northeast through two fields, and arrived at the confluence in about 15 minutes. I walked about 3350 feet (1 km) to the point. Due to the open skies I had no trouble zeroing out the GPS unit. It was amazing to me that nearly 22 years had passed since this point was last visited, and it had only been visited once before. I confess that I had a much easier time than the previous visitors who were walking in head-high Iowa corn, in August.

But now it was early evening in late spring, temperature about 71 F (21.6 C) under moderate winds and clear beautiful skies. It was a bit cooler than I expected for this time of year. The landscape here is some of the flattest in the state; other confluence points in Iowa are much hillier than this one. This was my first time on this point but I now had visited the point to the north, west, and south of here, and planned to visit the point east of here tomorrow morning. Yes, I only have 2 more confluence points to visit in the entire state! This evening, I saw only a few birds, no snakes, no people, and no animals. The only sound was the fairly quiet wind turbines and - louder - the wind itself. I took photos including some moody sunset through barbed wire photos, and posted on my Our Earth channel. I am sure the views of the stars are marvelous here after dark as there are no towns for many miles; Corwith, to the east-southeast, is fairly tiny and no light pollution surely would be visible from here.

I had stood on 43 North many times, from Idaho on the west to New Hampshire on the east, and on 94 West from Minnesota on the north to Texas on the south. I have now visited all but 2 points in the state of Iowa, and those 2 were next on my plans--tomorrow. It was a great evening out there on the landscape with nobody else around, just the giant wind blades turning above me. Thinking spatially as I do, I filmed a video of the shadow of the wind turbines on the fields --fascinating! I wanted to stay longer but I needed to find a camping spot before sundown. Thus I departed, walking back to the vehicle, this time due south, which put me east of the farmhouse that might be abandoned. I then walked west toward the vehicle, completing a sort of circle, which I love to do as a geographer, for my hike. Next, I passed through the town of Corwith which was absolutely charming; I wished I could have stopped. Some flags were waving for Memorial Day weekend. However, as I aimed to camp at Eldred-Sherwood park at its lake for the night, I kept going, mostly on gravel roads. After some delays due to road construction, I made it to the campground right at sundown--unfortunately, though, it was full. It had been a terrific day of flying on the airplane and visiting 3 confluence points. Get out there and explore!

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 =     5
			North Dakota =  3
			Wisconsin =     3 
			Iowa =          4
		-------------------------------
			   		15 points 

What a planet!