#7: [29-Apr-24]

#6: [13-May-21]

#5: [27-May-13]

#4: [05-Jun-12]

#3: [15-Aug-05]

#2: [24-Nov-04]

#1: [14-Jan-00]

22-Mar-2025 --

38N 98W was a much needed rest stop for some fresh air (and geographical satisfaction) along a truly riveting drive between Omaha and Oklahoma City. By the time Jack and I had reached northern Kansas along US 81, our entertainment had been reduced to watching the alphabetically-ordered grid roads tick down: e.g., "Hmm, Young Rd, that one's fine for 'Y'. I wonder what they chose for 'Z'? [one mile later] Ooh, Zeal Rd, that's an interesting word. Solid A-tier road name", and so on. Getting out of the car would do us some good! This confluence wasn't too far out of our way and looked like it'd be a simple one that wouldn't take long. We had a tasty late lunch at Freddy's (a Kansas-based fast food chain, importantly) in McPherson before splitting southwest from I-135, about a half-hour out from the spot.

Although we'd diverged from the Interstate, the state highway quality was remarkable: KS 61 was partly a controlled-access freeway between McPherson and Hutchinson, resembling an Interstate if not for the occasional minor crossroad. Flat, open, green wheatfields abounded out here. Like the previous visitors (Gavin Roy and Walter Hannah, just last year), we hoped that the confluence's field wouldn't be quite as green so we didn't have to worry about walking through crops (inevitably someone's flour or bread in a few months' time). Soon we reached the relatively large town of Hutchinson, home to about 40,000 residents, and about 6 mi/10 km northeast of 38N 98W. Both of us had heard of Hutchinson before but never expected to find ourselves there. Driving through, it seemed like an archetypal quiet (but pleasant) Great Plains town.

Just southwest of town, we got off the highway at Mohawk Rd, heading south for a mile before turning west onto Morgan Ave along which we parked — we'd reached the confluence's field, and it was thankfully still fallow. Had the field been active Jack and I could've logged a successful roadside visit, but we were very happy to go for the exact point. Looking around on the walk toward the spot, the surroundings looked very familiar from the preceding few hours, but it was many times nicer to be out in the landscape rather than passively observing inside a metal box flying down the highway. The GPS zeroed out after about a minute of walking — we now stood at 38N 98W, Jack and I's second Kansas confluence, one degree north of the first (also in a flat farm field). A grain elevator to the northwest constituted the most prominent feature on the landscape, which was otherwise dominated by fields and farm properties. The late afternoon sun had warmed the area into the upper 60s (20°C), with a fresh southerly breeze and evidently little cloud cover, as the photos show: a perfect early spring day.

Jack and I spent a few minutes on-site, enjoying the warmth, open horizons, and brief reprieve from sitting. We spotted a piece of trash lodged on one of the dead stalks about two dozen meters northwest, likely blown in from the wind. Not a problem — Jack retrieved it and we started back for the car, confluence beautifying duties completed. We departed the area heading southeast toward Wichita, satisfied with our picturesque and very successful detour!