25-Sep-2004 -- A midnight confluence visit! I received an invite from fellow confluencer Sam Gallucci wanting to know if I would like to go on a confluence/geodash adventure trek. We had successfully visited 37n-118w earlier this year at my invitation and, since I had never been geodashing before, my answer was yes. The plan was for 4 confluences and 4 geodash points. We would begin our adventure trek from Kramer Junction. Sam had just bought a new camera and would be the trip photographer. I would be the narrator.

We met in Kramer Junction, CA on Friday after work to begin our journey north. 38n-118w was not one of our planned confluences but since we were passing within a mile of it, and Sam had not yet visited it, we decided to stop.

We arrived just past midnight. The moon was nearly full and Sam’s camera could take long exposure shots. After a couple trial shots he found the right settings to capture both the terrain – and the background stars!

This was my second visit to this confluence and it had changed little from my first visit. It is also one of the easiest confluences to reach in Nevada - you can stop your car in the middle of NV-773 and be well inside 100 meters. This was also the first night confluence visit by either Sam or myself.

Picture #1 shows the general confluence area and footprints around the existing rock cairn. Picture #2 looks to the north towards US-6 and captures the Big Dipper low on the horizon with the handle extending out to the left and parallel with the horizon. Phecda is just about to set behind the ridge. Merak and Dubhe are clearly visible pointing towards Polaris. Picture #3 looks east. Orion’s belt is unmistakable, vertically oriented just to the left of the ridgeline and rising above the eastern horizon. There are two interesting streaks visible just to the right of Betelgeuse. Picture #4 looks south and captures the moon and the hexagonal shutter of Sam’s camera. Picture #5 looks to the west and NV-773. Picture #6 shows products from Garmin and Magellan agreeing on a common location. Picture #7 shows the confluence visitors.

We didn’t know it yet, but in less than 24 hours from this point, we will have successfully visited 6 confluences and 4 geodash points!

Back to the vehicle and on to our first planned confluence at 39°N 117°W!