03-May-2000 -- Colleague Bill Bauer and myself took a long lunch break from work to check out this confluence on a sunny, but windy Idaho day. I attempted this confluence in February, but was turned back by road closures. The area where this confluence resides is closed to all motorized vehicles until May 1, to reduce winter stress to migrating elk herds. The confluence is very near to the Sand Mountain Wildlife Study area, part of the world famous St. Anthony Sand Dunes. Waiting three months for the roads into the area to open was frustrating, given the easy access to this confluence. Once May was upon us, we finally were able to make our way to the confluence. The trip was going to be easy. A quick drive up I-15, off at the Hamer exit, and pretty much straight in from there. Maps showed that there was a road ending within a half mile or so of the confluence. However, a Terraserver satellite photo showed that the confluence was right on a road! So away we went. This first mistake we learned was that we should have taken my truck, even with satellite photos of a road going all the way to the confluence. It turns out that the road was just a farm implement access trail. As we got closer to the confluence, this road got very sandy and difficult to maneuver in. I was worried that my car was going to get stuck in the sand. About the time it was really starting to get bad, we had reached the confluence. The area was all agricultural, with a tenuous hold in the dry and very sandy soil. As we were leaving the area, we were approached by a ranchhand, who was obviously confused as to why someone would drive a car through sand into the middle of nowhere. We explained the confluence concept, which served to confuse him more. He bid us a good day, shaking his head, and off we went.