#4: [11-Jun-14]

#3: [26-Aug-07]

#1: [04-Aug-01] (incomplete)

31-Aug-2001 -- I made a return trip to 49N112W to make up for stopping at monument 332 and not going to the confluence on my first visit.

I had heard from a friend who had gone to Waterton, and on the news, that forest fires in southeast BC were making southern Alberta very smoky. As I got close to Coutts and Sweetgrass, this was very apparent. It took about 10 minutes to get past US Customs at the border: they couldn't believe someone would drive from Edmonton to Sweetgrass just for fun (and to take some pictures). They eventually let me go, and I drove to the vicinity of monument 332 and the Sweetgrass Cemetary.

The confluence is a few hundred meters west and a little north of the monument, next to what would normally be a wetlands of some kind. With the drought conditions we've been seeing this year, the wetlands were completely dried up and one just sees a very salty plain.

I arrived at the confluence probably about 45 minutes before sunset, but even then one could barely see the sun because of all the smoke. Five minutes later the sun was no longer visible. The trip back was uneventful: Canada Customs was not surprised when I said I had only been out of Canada for 30 minutes.

The borderline with the U.S. is running about 160 m south of the Confluence.