#3: [25-Aug-10]

#2: [18-Dec-02]

12-Sep-2001 -- This is my first confluence in the wild West. I have participated in others in Ontario but none were as easy or as much fun as this one. We were able to drive to and park on the confluence.

We did N51W112 which is about 150km east of Calgary. Our good buddy Jack lives in Calgary and after a guided tour of all the highligts downtown we headed East for the confluence.

My brother in law Dave from Red Deer was not quite sure of what to expect on this his first confluence hunt. Jack, because of his inability to win the flip, bought lunch at the Strathmore Station that boasted of the best burgers in the West with 22% less fat and 25% less cholestrol........less than what we were unable to determine but the food was good.

We drove East from Calgary along TransCanada #1 for about 140 KM getting quite a detailed education from both Dave and Jack. It appears that Jack was both a farmer and an oil man in previous lives as his knowledge and detail was astonishing......especially his differentiating between combines and threshers. Dave provided much info on the oil wells and petro plants that we spotted along the way.

We drove through Countess on 550 and turned north on 862 towards Gem turning onto 556 towards the confluence. This is where the journey turned interesting.

We drove along a road we found on mapsource till it petered out about 4km from the point, it was in an open field and we kept driving my old 1990 Honda....Along the way we spotted a ruffed grouse and a large animal running on the horizon....I suspected it to be a giraffe....Dave thought an antelope and Jack couldn't tell us what he thought it was. After some sober reflection we decided it might have been a large elk.

The ground was solid and we were able to weave our way between the occasional low scrub brush and only bottomed out a few times.

We continued driving cross country and drove right to the confluence. Pictures were taken and we headed out for another road that showed up on the gps.

It turned out we were in an irrigation district and vehicle traffic was allowed only on the clearly marked trails.....we took the trails out to the highway.

Parking the car right on top of the confluence appears to be easier than any of the previous confluences I've visited with Badge and Jimmy.