22-Jul-2000 -- The summer was half over and I had yet to attempt a confluence point in my native state of Alaska. We had spent the first half of the summer moving my fiancee to Alaska and working on and around the house, and I was itching to explore. I perused the maps and found one in an area that I was familiar with that looked attainable. We took off in the morning for the 150 mile drive NE on the Glenn Highway (Alaska Hwy 1). From Palmer to Eureka this is one of the most spectacular drives in the country, weather permitting. The drive was through scattered rain and low clouds but as we came around Gunsight Mtn into the high scrub tree tundra around Eureka Summitt (elev. 3322) the weather turned nice. As we crossed 147 West we began to look for a place to park the car. We thought the point would be about 1 mile north of the road. We pulled onto a gravel road leading straight towards the point for about 1/2 mile, ending in a large gravel pit. Since it was cool and we were wearing long sleeves and pants we decided we didn't need the mosquito repellant (wrong choice!). As soon as we hit the woods the mosquitos were all over us, the only respite was on the way back there was a slight breeze in our face. We immediately dropped nearly straight down into a small creek bottom which I jumped across and monique crossed on a small tree. Climbing out of the small gully we trekked northward across the muskeg to the point. The area is very damp, as most tundra-like areas are in the summer. Monique had never been in terrain like that and found the walking very odd. The ground was very spongy and makes for difficult walking. The area is just west of the Little Nelchina River and is home to the Nelchina Caribou herd. Unfortunately we did not spot any today. The walk back to the car was uneventful but we did see a moose and her calf crossing Caribou Creek on the drive home. The entire hike was only about a mile but took about an hour.