#4: [30-Aug-13]

#3: [04-May-13]

#2: [08-Nov-05]

#1: [30-Jun-01]

01-Sep-2024 --

Jack and I (and one other) took the opportunity to grab 37N 103W while up in the Black Mesa area for Labor Day weekend. This was actually the second time we'd gone to the OK/CO/NM tripoint, the first time being just a few months ago in late May! Of course, at that point we weren't actively seeking out confluence visits so our documentation hadn't been adequate. This time, we returned with confluence documentation built into the itinerary.

Confluence hunting or not, we probably would've been in the area regardless; our aforementioned first visit to the region whetted our appetites to return. For one thing, the night skies over 37N 103W are essentially untainted by artificial light pollution — a reason in itself to get out to the area, in my opinion (having never before seen the Milky Way with my own eyes). That had been one of the drivers for our first area visit in May, but nearby lightning storms spoiled the astronomy show (and put on a good show of their own, admittedly). This confluence also lies very near Black Mesa, the Oklahoma highpoint — yet another draw for hiking enjoyers like our crew.

We drove west out of central Oklahoma on Aug 31 en route to Clayton, NM, with a dinner stop at a taqueria in Dalhart, TX. Said dinner stop was good but had some interesting quirks; not least among them being the inexplicable and seemingly random playthroughs of the first 10 or 15 seconds of "It's a Small World" on some hidden speakers in the corner of the place. To be honest, I'm still a little baffled (doesn't exactly set the mood for tacos, at least to me). Anyway, our routing was dictated partially by my somewhat adjacent highway clinching hobby, and we indeed clinched a number of them on our way to New Mexico (in particular, OK 73, TX 15, TX 102, and NM 421 were driven from end to end that afternoon). We set aside that evening for stargazing and returned to where we'd tried before (when lightning messed things up), a spot on the remarkably isolated NM 456, roughly 12 miles west of 37N 103W. Fortunately skies were clear that night, and we got to experience the darkest skies any of us had seen before.

The next morning we packed up and headed towards Black Mesa, which we planned to hike for the second time this year. The weather was absolutely perfect, with temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s, low humidity, and just enough of a breeze to be pleasant without blowing stuff around. The trailhead parking lot was nearly full, unsurprising given the holiday weekend and ideal weather, but much different than it had been in May (when we'd been one of only two groups). The hike was enjoyable and picturesque as expected, and for a few moments we were again the highest people in Oklahoma. Once finished, we hopped in the car and went the last couple miles to the tripoint marker.

The OK/CO/NM tripoint monument lies about 200 meters west of what I'd assume was the intended spot. The road is paved up until the last stretch along the Oklahoma/Colorado border (with the unpaved section maintained by Colorado, based on signage), though the gravel part isn't bad at all. We parked near the marker and started walking the few hundred feet toward 37N 103W. It lies in grassy vegetation a bit north of the gravel road, and is extremely easy to get to (once you've gotten yourself that far, anyway). Under the wide open sky, the GPS had great signal and I was able to zero it out pretty quickly. The confluence lies just beside a shrubby plant of some kind (seen in the overview picture) with mesas visible in all cardinal directions: a beautiful setting (though I'm a sucker for these semi-arid mountainous regions).

There was a little capsule on the dirt beside the confluence, presumably a geocache. We didn't mess with it at all, but it was cool to see — almost undoubtedly related to the very reason we too were at that otherwise random patch of scrub. With the pictures taken and the scenery observed, it was time to hit the road. We already have plans to come back and explore the region further within the next year and probably try to get to 37N 104W. All around, a pretty solid Labor Day weekend!