24-Feb-2007 -- This confluence is located in South Central Alaska, USA, to the west of the Kenai Peninsula, in the middle of Cook Inlet and about 6 1/2 miles (10 1/2 km) from the closest land, near the Alaska Native village of Tyonek, which has a population of about 400 residents. For reference, the nearest large town is Anchorage, which is located about 30 miles to the northeast of this confluence; smaller towns of Nikiski and Kenai lie about 25 to 30 miles to the south east.

Larry and I flew over this site in Larry’s 1975 Cessna 180J airplane; the actual conflueence was determined by the on-board Garmin 295 GPS. Since the site is over water, the photos show a broad view of the area, using the west shore of Cook Inlet as a reference point. Also since the photo session was conducted in February, Cook Inlet has floating ice drifting up and down the inlet with the tides.

Cook Inlet is a major shipping lane for marine vessels of many kinds, including container ships, freighters, military, oil, gas and LNG tankers and a very active salmon fishing fleet. Most shipping up and down the inlet would pass either directly over this confluence or very near to it. Just to the south of this location are many off-shore oil and gas platforms. This area has abundant marine wildlife, particularly salmon and various kinds of whales. This body of water is known for having some of the highest/lowest tides in the world.

Picture #1 shows a view of the confluence over the icy water looking directly west toward Tyonek Village which is located just on-shore in the background. Picture #2 shows basically the same view but taken from slightly further north, looking more southwest. The mountain in the far background is Mt. Spur, about 40 miles away. The third picture (#3) is of Larry’s plane which we used for this trip.

Coordinator's Note: The confluence is classified as "incomplete" because the visitors did not visit on the Earth's surface, as per the guidelines.

In the Cook Inlet, about 6.4 mi from land.