#3: [09-Jul-10]

#1: [10-Jan-01] (incomplete)

13-Jan-2002 -- While returning from Grande Prairie, AB, along Highway 43 I simply could not resist stopping at 54 00 000N 114 00 000W. (The Degree Confluence project has become an obsession.)

This confluence is located about 100 m east of Rge Rd 285, also known as Meridian Road, and in this regard is somewhat special--let me explain:

As you may know, legal land descriptions in Western Canada all end with a reference to a meridian, in order to get the map reader on the correct page. For example, where I live the descriptions all contain the last words "West of the 4th". So, a meridian has to be someplace, and it turns out that the 5th meridian is actually longitude 114 00 000W!

In Alberta we also have the 4th meridian--110 00 000W (Alberta-Saskatchewan Border) and the 6th meridian--118 00 000W. Between meridians 4 and 5 at latitude 54N there is room for 28 Ranges, numbered 1 to 28, and being 6 miles wide. Within each range there are 6 roads heading north and south. In Range 28 the roads are numbered 280, 281, 282, ... and 285. And because the earth is round, the farther we get from the equator the less room there is for Ranges. But enough of this!

The farms right around the confluence seem to stress livestock. A little farther east grain fields are also quite common. An interesting drive through sunny Alberta!