#1: [23-Jun-01]

13-May-2015 -- After visiting 42N 118W, I continued northward to visit another ‘Forgotten Confluence Point’ - visited only once before, in June 2001.

From US-95 North, I turned left at Burns Junction (a ‘Y’ junction) onto Oregon Highway 78, and then took Iron Mountain Road - a dirt road that runs eastward towards the confluence point. (Iron Mountain Road starts at a slightly different point than was shown on my topo map; it actually starts right at the 42 degrees North line of latitude.) From satellite imagery (plus the report from the previous visitor), I knew that I needed to detour north at 43.00426°N 118.03379°W to bypass a private farm; this bypass is along a narrow, somewhat rocky doubletrack. This doubletrack passes just 0.2 miles from the confluence point; however, at 43.00536°N 118.01319°W I encountered a locked gate, and had to walk from there. This was about 0.7 miles from the confluence point.

The confluence point is in flat sagebrush, with several wildflowers growing (thanks to recent Spring rains). The most prominent nearby geological feature - about 5 miles northeast of the point - is Saddle Butte. (According to my topo map, the area just to the east of the point is called the “Saddle Butte Lava Tubes Area of Critical Environmental Concern”.)