#4: [18-Aug-17]

#3: [21-May-13]

#2: [13-Jul-05]

16-Jan-2000 -- It was an unseasonably warm day for mid January in Idaho. Temperatures were expected to reach 40F. My son Cooper and I decided to make the 50 mile drive to the 43N 113W confluence. After scoping it out on the Streets program, we selected this one from the nearest ones due to road proximity. We have enough of a snowpack to make most of the other nearby confluences unreachable. So away from civilization we went, leaving I-15 at Blackfoot ID and heading south on route 39. This road goes through Idaho potato country, with only a few small towns along the way. After about 25 miles of passing open fields and idle irrigation equipment, we arrived upon our turn onto Strang Road. Happy to find it paved, we began the final 8 mile leg to confluence. A few farm houses dotted this road amongst the potato fields.

After about 7 miles, the road turned to gravel and began to climb a little. This signalled the point where the agriculture ended and gave way to the lava flows. Southern Idaho had a lot of volcanic activity and lava flows thousands of years ago. Craters of the Moon National Monument (where they tested the lunar rover) contains great examples of this past volcanic activity. While driving past where the agriculture ended, it was a relief to note that we would be hiking to the confluence through lava rocks jutting up through sage brush, rather than hiking though a field full of the mud snow mixture that would be miserable.

On reaching 113W on the road, we parked the car and started our hike north. The GPS said we had about 0.005 degrees to go, or about 300 yards. The route was ankle deep snow, scattered sage brush, and lava rocks poking up through the snow. Finally arriving on the confluence, it was apparant how unremarkable the view was. It was a cloudy day, as there were intermittent rain showers during the drive. The showers stopped for the final hike, for which we were grateful. The low clouds on the horizon blocked any view of the Portneuf mountain range to the southeast. Thus, the view was mainly sagebrush and snow, with plowed fields in the distance. About 10 minutes after arriving back at the car, the sky let loose with a good downpour. The confluence gods must have been with us to have not gotten caught in this one.