25-Oct-2004 -- Having spent the weekend at the Tumbling Leaves Square Dance Festival in Bennington, VT, Cheryl and I took an extra day driving back to Virginia to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and do some GPSing (Geodashing and Confluence hunting) as well. 41N 74W lies in the middle of a wooded area guarding the Hackensack River in the midst of the New Jersey urban sprawl. Earlier visitors to this confluence mentioned trails entering the wooded area presumably from the north. We spent some time searching for a trailhead but were unsuccessful. We finally parked at the cul-de-sac at the end of Fred Street for an approach from the east. Cheryl opted to stay with Maggie (my 1988 Mazda) while I ventured into the woods maintaining contact via FRS radio. I had about a third of a mile to traverse. Most of it was relatively easy walking through the forest of colorful leaves. The exception was a marshy area with a stream just deep enough I couldn’t wade through and just wide enough I couldn’t jump over. By detouring south a couple hundred yards, I was able to cross the area by picking my way over several downed trees. As I neared the confluence I discovered the path mentioned by previous visitors. It is obvious from the photos that the woods look pretty much the same no matter which direction you look. Furthermore with the tree cover, getting the GPSr to remain at all zeros long enough to photograph turned out to be impossible. For my retreat, I decided to see if following the path would be an easier way out of the woods. If successful, I was in radio contact with Cheryl and she could find me with Maggie. I followed the path in a generally northerly direction; however, it petered out near the back yards of the folks on Forest Avenue where a dog had been quite vocal about his irritation at my presence in his woods. Furthermore, I was once again faced with crossing the stream. With a little ingenuity, I found a downed branch to use as a makeshift bridge allowing me to cross without getting water over the tops of my waterproof boots. The rest was easy.