#2: [18-Feb-07]

#1: [26-May-02]

26-May-2024 -- I have established a tradition going back nearly 20 years of devoting a whole day or multiple days, solely to getting out on the landscape, seeing physical and cultural geography and visiting confluence points. Thus, it was time for the 2024 trip which I had been looking forward to for an entire year. I had flown to Bismarck, North Dakota, two days before, visiting 8 points in those two days. Today began in a campground with coffee in a trailer with one of the long-term campers, a unique soul. Then, I visited 48° north 100° west as well as gone on side trips to the geographic center of North America and David Thompson surveyors memorial, which were respectively an impressive obelisk of conglomerate, and a gigantic globe of granite. Then I visited 102° west, then 103° west, then 104° west. I even visited Williston, Velva, and New Town for the first time and stopped at an oil pumping station in the Bakken Formation.

For the past 30 hours, I had been traveling east to west all along 48° north latitude, from 96° west all the way to, now approaching 105° west, spanning 9° of longitude. I skipped 99° west and 101° west because I had already been there. In late afternoon, after visiting 104 West, I pondered my options. I had already visited 4 points today. Could I make it a fifth, and thereby visit 10 points over the past two days? As I drove West on US Highway 2, one of the two questions seemed to have answered itself: That I would not run out of daylight before reaching the point. Good! It was less than a month before the summer solstice; thus I had plenty of daylight left. But the other question remained: Would I be in a thunderstorm? I knew the cliff exposure of the upcoming point, and I was not keen to be up there while lightning was flashing.

Leaving Buford, I drove west on State Highway 327, passing Fort Union, but it was closed. I entered Montana. The population density is very low here and I saw few cars or people. I continued west on US Highway 2 through Culbertson, where I took a photo of the turnoff to Regina, Saskatchewan, (someday I need to go there!) and continued to Brockton. At Road 480, where the skies to the southwest were dark and streaked with lightning, I turned south through some wonderful grasslands on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. I work with tribal schools and colleges and it was great to be here.

I crossed the Missouri River and the road was in decent shape, climbing the ridge to the south. East-southeast of the point, where I knew the saddle ridge would be, I decided to go for it. A light rain fell but the lightning had subsided. I was curious where the confluence would lie--would it be on a cliff to the north, or actually reachable? I picked my way down the slopes, eroded hills on each side, but some plant growth on the ridge with amazing variety, marveling at the incredible views before me. I gingerly stepped, down, down, reached the point and was able to zero out the unit despite the steep slope immediately to the north.

It was early evening in late spring, cloudy skies with thunderstorms moving to the northwest, blustery winds here but a beautiful temperature of about 71° F. The confluence lies in a small ravine covered in sage, shrubs, and wildflowers, but opens up to an amazing vista to the north. This was one of the most beautiful points I have ever visited, with nearly 500 points visited worldwide over 25 years. The land falls away to the Missouri River and off to the north, you can probably see halfway to the 49th Parallel: The Canadian border. I have a very nice collection of confluence points by now in Montana but had not visited a point here since probably 2017 near Great Falls. This was my last point along 48 North for this trip. I have stood on 48° north latitude in many places from Washington state all the way east to Minnesota. I have also stood on 105° west on the north end here in Montana all the way down along 105° west through Wyoming, Colorado, to New Mexico. These cover a wide range of landforms, climate zones, and vegetation types.

I took photographs and posted a video, here: 48 North Latitude, 105 West Longitude. As always I thought of the caretakers of this land, the indigenous population, the settlers, and I respect them all. It is some beautiful terrain. I was getting wet, but then, the rain gradually subsided. I was on site 20 minutes with a 20 minute hike in each direction. As I was walking back east, the skies opened up and I experienced a magnificent sky about 30 minutes before sunset. At the road, one vehicle passed and I waved. I did not wish to depart but I needed to find a campground, ideally, before dark. I did not know then that it would be nearly midnight before I found one. But it was worth visiting this point and I was truly grateful for the opportunity.

When the trip was all said and done, here are the final statistics:

-------------------------------------------------
Days set aside to visit points:  4

Confluence points attempted:  15.  

Confluence points successfully visited:  15. 

Points where I met the local landowner = 3 of 15 points. 

Points where I met the local dogs = 3 of 15 points.

Miles = 1588, Kilometers = 2556.
  
Percent of travel on interstate highways:  15%
Percent of travel on US, state, and county roads:  85 % :-)

Campgrounds = 3.  

Windy confluence points:  13 of 15.
Rainy confluence points:  3 of 15.
Snowy confluence points:  1 of 15.

Beautiful confluence points:   15 of 15.

Convenience store stops = 7.  

Points I thought would be

                easier than they turned out to be =           2 
                about the same as I expected them to be =     2 
                more difficult than they turned out to be =  11 
		------------------------------------------------
			                                     15 points.
Points          in wetlands              1
                in woodlands             1
		in non-tilled hills      2
		in agricultural fields  11
		---------------------------
			                15 points.

Points along 	45 North = 1 
		46 North = 3 
		47 North = 3 
		48 North = 8  
		-------------
			   15 points.

Points visited on 	Day 1 = 3 
			Day 2 = 5 
			Day 3 = 5 
			Day 4 = 2
		-------------------
			   	15 points.  

Points visited in the 	morning = 	5 
			afternoon = 	7 
			evening = 	3 
		-------------------------------
			   		15 points

Points visited in 	Minnesota =     2
			North Dakota =  11
			South Dakota =  1 
			Montana =       1
		-------------------------------
			   		15 points 

The most frequently visited longitude line:  99 West:  3 points.

Get out there and explore!