#2: [28-Jul-03]

#1: [30-Sep-00] (incomplete)

20-Feb-2013 -- 17th Annual International Confluence Day (Part 3: In the Old Dominion State)

My observance of ICD 2013 came to an end just north of the runway for the Wakefield Municipal Airport, in the heart of peanut country. My route had followed I-85 out of North Carolina, then east on State Route 40 (crossing I-95) to Waverly, where I picked up US 460 southeast to Wakefield. I turned north just past the famous Virginia (“A Legend in a Nutshell Since 1929”) Diner, looking for Spring Hill Road.

The easiest approach to 37N 77W is via a peanut field just north of a farm house at 8398 Spring Hill Road (SR 613). One of several people standing by the garage there identified himself as a friend of the renter of the property, and said he was sure the owner would see no need to hinder me completing my ICD adventure. So, I parked my little truck and quickly covered the 500 meters to the far end of the field, where a short tramp in the woods brought me to the confluence point.

Almost a decade has passed since Joseph Kerski’s lone successful visit here, but other than the seasonal changes of more water and fewer thorns, conditions seem identical. In the only excitement of the afternoon, while going through the slow process of registering all zeroes on the GPS, I could hear a helicopter circling in the area, but with the thick vegetation in the area, I only caught a quick glimpse of the tail end of a Navy chopper as it passed overhead.

I was able to make it back to my vehicle before sunset, and, proceeding on to the southeast, I arrived at my brother’s home just at dark.

Virginia thus becomes the 22nd different state in which I have recorded a confluence visit on International Confluence Day…