#2: [16-Jan-11]

#1: [04-Jul-01]

24-May-2026 -- As I had a multi-year tradition of setting aside a few days, preferably near the summer solstice when I would have the most daylight, to get out onto the landscape and see fields, old railroad depots, trails, and confluence points, and as I would be teaching soon at a geotechnology conference at Dallas College, and as it had been six months since I had last visited a point, the weekend had finally arrived. I had been looking forward to it for quite some time and it exceeded all my geo-hopes and dreams!

As I had a multi-year tradition of setting aside a few days, preferably near the summer solstice when I would have the most daylight, to get out onto the landscape and see fields, old railroad depots, trails, and confluence points, and as I would be teaching soon at a geotechnology conference at Dallas College, and as it had been six months since I had last visited a point, the weekend had finally arrived. I had been looking forward to it for quite some time and it exceeded all my geo-hopes and dreams!

The Approach: I had started my 4-day confluence trek yesterday by flying to DFW airport, thereupon visiting two points in Oklahoma, and camping in western Arkansas. This being Day 2, I began at Big Foote campground and by 0900 this very morning I had visited 35 North 94 West, by 1115, 35 North 93 West, and by 1300, 35 North 92 West. My shoes were still wet from that first trek, with burrs in my socks, but I was having a grand and glorious geo-time.

From the Little Rock area, I traveled southwest on I-30, and once I left the interstate highway at Arkadelphia to travel west and west-southwest on state and county roads, things really became interesting: Fields, woodlands, small towns. As I neared the confluence, I passed through a very appropriately named town, Center Point. Coincidence? I kept moving along State Highway 26, and once I arrived in the vicinity, the road was flanked with trees on both sides, as I knew it would be from my Street View investigation of the past year.

I drove back and forth twice, trying to decide if and where I could pull over; finally deciding near the driveway of the home to the south of the point. I then walked north through the powerline right of way, instantly realizing that I should have looked for the lane about a football field to the north, instead. The right of way was waist high in thorns and other plants, along with a small drainage, but I kept walking to the one lane road immediately ahead.

Once at the lane, I experienced a bit of an eerie feeling that I very seldom have on one of these treks. The buzzing of a tree seemingly alive with wasps, the abandoned house to the northeast, and the few shacks and tires lining the road didn't help the forlorn mood, but at least here on the wooded track I was out of the sun on this very hot day for late May. The track bent to the west. I decided to cross the southern part of the field to the north of the confluence, and trek across what was showing on the satellite image to be a pipeline right of way to the confluence field to the south. Sure enough, it proved to be a right of way, but arduous to traverse, including a perilous moment that found me standing on a log, which was strung with barbed wire, suspended over a deep ditch, at the bottom of which two snakes were curled. Thankfully I emerged into the confluence field but vowed not to return via that route. Once in the confluence field, in about 5 minutes, I found the point.

The Site:The site lies in the north end of the field, slightly sloping to the north; currently not cultivated but with obvious cattle grazing evidence of the not too distant past. As I typically do, I had a reflective moment about the people living here on the land past and present - the Indigenous Americans, the settlers, and admired them all for choosing this land. This site was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be, mostly because of the snake-gully traverse.

I have stood on 34 North many times in the past from California on the west to North Carolina on the east. I have also stood on 94 West many times, from Minnesota on the north end to another forest in Texas on the south end. I have visited numerous points in Arkansas; my last one in this state occurred about 7 months ago, in the northwest part of Arkansas; while I was here to speak at the state geotechnology conference. Today, I had visited 3 points before reaching this one. I saw no people or animals or structures at this site; just a few birds circling overhead, and the snakes back in the gully. This would be my 4th and final Arkansas point for this trip. There were a few to the east of here that were in swamps; I probably will never visit those; I'll leave them to other braver souls!

Weather Conditions: It was not too humid; a bit hot; a late spring late afternoon; sunny to partly cloudy; really brilliant skies; moderate winds; visibility good and much improved from my misty confluence hike earlier this morning; about 89 F. After taking photos and filming this video on my Our Earth channel, I left after taking 10 minutes to zero out the GPS unit and then spending 10 minutes more at the confluence. I found a much easier route at the northeast corner of the field; this is the way I should have entered the field, but that's the curious thing about these visits: It is almost always a first-time experience; very seldom a second more experience-behind-me-type of visit. I took the lane all the way back to the road, which entailed wading through a very large puddle. I thankfully found my vehicle and no one around. Total round trip time from vehicle: About 70 minutes.

Next Stop: I headed south with 33 North 94 West as my goal but first, with a stop at the Texas-Louisiana-Arkansas tri-corner. Would I make it before sundown?

Onward with gratitude!

----------------------------------------

When the trip was all said and done, here are the final statistics:


-------------------------------------------------
Days set aside to visit points:  4.

Confluence points attempted:  14.  

Confluence points successfully visited:  13. 

Points where I met the local landowner = 5 of 14 points. 


Miles = 1,945, Kilometers = 3,130.
  
Percent of travel on interstate highways:  15%
Percent of travel on US, state, county roads, and the "back of the back roads":  85 % Hooray!

Campgrounds = 3.  

Rainy confluence points:  3 of 14.
Beautiful confluence points:   14 of 14.

Convenience store stops = 7.  

Points that turned out to be

                easier than I thought they would be =           1 
                about the same as I expected them to be =       8 
                more difficult than I thought they would be =   5 
		-------------------------------------------------------
			                                     14 points.
Points          in prairie or scrub      3
                in woodlands             5
		in non-tilled fields     2
		in agricultural fields   4
		-----------------------------------
			                14 points.

Points along 	36 North = 1 
		35 North = 4 
		34 North = 2 
		33 North = 3
                32 North = 4  
		----------------
			   14 points.

Points visited on 	Day 1 = 2 
			Day 2 = 5 
			Day 3 = 4 
			Day 4 = 3
		-------------------
			   	14 points.  

Points visited in the 	morning = 	6 
			afternoon = 	5 
			evening = 	3 
		-------------------------------
			   	       14 points

Points visited in 	Oklahoma =       2
			Arkansas =       4
			Louisiana =      2 
			Texas =          6
		-------------------------------
			   		14 points 

The most frequently visited latitude line:  
-------------------------------------------- 
                       32 and 35 North:  4 points each.

The most frequently visited longitude line:  
-------------------------------------------- 
                                      94 West:  4 points.