#3: [12-Jun-14]

#2: [13-Sep-03]

13-Oct-2001 -- We decided to have a go at this confluence as a side trip from I-15 on our way north, back home to Calgary. The confluence is located near Mile 9 on Montana State Hwy 324.

This confluence looked mildly challenging on both the topos and the aerial photographs... and we weren't too far wrong.

What we did not count on was the "No Trespassing. No Hunting." signs clearly posted on the fences. The ranch lands in this part of Montana are BIG... seemingly many miles wide and deep. It would take a few hours knocking on doors to learn whose land it would be that we would need to cross. Sadly, we did not have the hours it would take as we had many more miles to go in order to get back home (and I forgot to bring the Confluence Letter explaining what we were doing...). Had we not found another confluence earlier in the week (42N 115W) we would have been hungrier for the chase. As it was, we met some school children in a nearby town that had heard of the GPS Confluence project and expressed interest in it. Perhaps they'll read this report, know the owner, and finish the job we've started... we hope so.

To the south of us, a small herd of antelope were grazing in the field. To a couple of city kids, the old tune about "...where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play..." came easily to mind.

The journey took us near enough to visit the former state capital, Bannack, where we saw a wonderfully preserved ghost town inside the Bannack state park. One of the photos submitted is from there, a Schoolhouse/Masonic temple built in 1874. The town is a fascinating step back in history to say the least. For more info look at http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/bannack.htm.

While we were successful in locating 113W at the side of the highway, the lack of time and no trespassing signs kept us about 524m from the confluence. The estimated closeness was calculated by converting to UTM (http://www.tec.army.mil/what_products.html) and doing the math...