07-Apr-2024 -- I've had this confluence on the docket for a long time but it's pretty far in the middle of nowhere which makes it hard to justify the visit. Somewhat tough to time it with the seasons too.

Well, today I had to travel first to Virginia then over towards Togo, MN. I saw I would be traveling fairly close to the confluence. Since the conditions were good, and I had a few hours to spare, I figured I might as well try.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to drive down the forest service road considering the spring runoff. Turns out the DNR made the decision for me by locking the gate. So it was the shoe leather express for the approx. 5-mile round trip. The road was dry for the first mile or so which had me wondering why the gate was locked. Once I passed a remote cabin though it became clear as after that it was snow-covered. Thankfully not a lot so it didn't slow me down.

Eventually spotted a beaver pond to my right which signaled where I had to turn left down an old overgrown track. It's hardly a trail now. Continued on that until my GPS ticked down from 0.4 to 0.3 miles to go. I was content with that. From there I headed into the woods. It was somewhat thick new aspen growth - thankfully not unbearably so. It did get worse as I went on though. Fortunately, my route allowed me to avoid the numerous beaver ponds/channels that run through this area so my whole hike was dry.

Eventually, my GPS switched from miles to feet and I was closing in. Once I got there it took a bit to settle. Right on my confluence reading was a nice big stump that I took a breather on. Took the required photos and then headed back - the return trip was much the same, fortunately. Though it wasn't the toughest confluence I have done, I was still very glad to see the car again.