#1: [09-Oct-99]

25-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!

The Approach: Early this morning, I visited 32 North 94 West in northwest Louisiana, and by mid-morning had also visited 32 North 95 West, in East Texas. In addition, as I crossed into Texas from Louisiana, I visited the "International Boundary" from the 1840 Republic of Texas days, along with a survey marker, stone, and several interpretive signs, an unexpected geographic discovery. I then had a very long, hot, but wonderful time traversing central-north Texas along 32 North, all the way from 95 West to 99 West, over 300 miles. I definitely did not take the I-20 route to the west, preferring the "blue highways" of US and state roads. I had my map hat on and my map shirt on and some books on audio. I stopped for coffee and water in Waco, and by late afternoon had visited 32 North 99 West. Now I made a beeline to 32 North 100 West. Would I make it before sundown?

I had long been eyeing this confluence, at least 10 years, as it seemed fairly easy to reach, though it would involve crossing some fences, and possibly negotiations with the very large cattle operation to the south of the point. Nevertheless, from Winters I drove north on US 83, then east and north on 2405. In retrospect it would have made for a shorter hike to get closer to the cattle operations, and head north on the road to the west of the one I was currently on, but in truth I was trying to remain as anonymous as possible. I parked in a hollow on 2405, quickly gathered supplies, and walked briskly north, then due west along the fenceline, with over a mile of hiking to go. I filmed a video of me "racing" the cattle in the field there to the confluence point in a mini-stampede, making sure no bulls or anything else that was aggressive was around, including snakes.

I was treated, upon the rise of the knoll, to a few beautiful lone trees, along with a beautiful view to the west where the sun was sinking (see photo). My heart, too, sank a bit, realizing the field ahead was planted in corn, unlike the grazing fields I was now on, but I vowed to hike in such a way as to disturb no plant. Sure enough, when I reached the 32nd Parallel, or close to it, I found a rise I could walk on to not crush any plants, and that turned to a wider track, further on. After at least 15 minutes in this field, I found the point.

The Site: As I had suspected, the confluence point lies in a tilled agricultural field, in corn at the time of my visit. The land is largely flat with some hills, and slopes up a bit to the east, from where I had hiked. With the wide open skies, I was able to zero out the GPS unit fairly quickly, given the wide open terrain. I took photos, and posted a 360 turning-around video on my Our Earth channel, here. It seemed hard to believe that this point had only been visited once before, in 1999. The view was wide open in all directions except the low rise to the east, which I had traversed during the past hour.

Weather Conditions: It was evening in late spring, about 87 F; not as hot as it could have been and thankfully no thunderstorms; moderately windy. It was flatter here than at 32 North 99 West where I had been 2 hours before; here, we were nearing the Llano Estacado. The sky was gloriously clear. I thought about those past and present, the Native Americans, the Texas cattle ranchers, and others who had traversed these grounds and lived here. I had stood on 32 North many times, from west Texas, west of here, on the west side, all the way to South Carolina on the east. I had stood on 100 West even more times, the traditional "boundary" between the semiarid west and the moister east, from North Dakota on the north to Texas, just south of here. I now have at least 20 confluence points in the great state of Texas, maybe 25. This was my 4th point today, with 1 in Louisiana and 3 in Texas, and my 11th point thus far on my 3 day journey (with 1 day to go).

I hiked out the exact same way I went in, only suffering one mishap, which was the snagging of the tender part of my forearm on one of the barbs in one of the fences. I continued on, adding some drops of blood to the field. That mark may be with me the rest of my life as a reminder of this evening. As I had parked quite a ways from the point, the round trip hike time came in at least 90 minutes, possibly longer, but I wasn't keeping track of time. I thoroughly enjoyed this trek in the evening sun, except for my forearm gash.

Next Stop: This was my last point of the day: I had visited 4 points and had driven over 600 miles today. My goal now was to make my destination campground at Abilene State Park before sundown. Would I make it? As it turned out, I didn't quite make it: I had to make camp in the dark, about 25 minutes after sundown, finding a washroom where I could clean out my arm as best I could. It was a magnificent evening with the moonlight quite bright, even though it was only a half moon, and plenty of stars and planets visible. It was a peaceful night for my last night of camping on this trek. Get out there and explore!

Onward with gratitude!

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


-------------------------------------------------
Days set aside to visit points:  4.
3-May-2026 -- As I 
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.