#2: [27-May-23]

23-Jan-2001 -- This confluence journey was the second of the day for me and my driver, Thomas C.H. Mueller, as we had just visited N42 W90 shortly before noon. The trip two degrees to the north and one degree further west took us on a path roughly paralleling the Mississippi River through northwest Illinois and into Wisconsin. Hastening to bag N44 W91 before the short winter day ran out, we were ourselves bagged by a Wisconsin State Patrol officer just outside Soldiers Grove. Mr. Mueller received a citation for $150 plus change on the speeding charge, and a scolding for (apparently) contacting the Department of Motor Vehicles only seven or eight times over his yet-unarrived 2001 registration stickers.

In a somewhat more irritable mood, we continued our trip, noting now one State Patrol car after another heading southbound on Highway 61 on the afternoon legs of their daily sorties. Anyone planning future Wisconsin trips might want to make a note of this phenomenon.

Our target area was north of Bangor, the closest road being the winding Herman Coulee Road. We parked as close as we could to the confluence, about three-tenths of a mile distant, and started up an unplowed access road toward the cleared hilltops shown on our topo maps. We were glad to not have to navigate the densely wooded ravines, as the snow cover (warmed by the daytime sun) was already difficult enough to wade through.

We arrived very near the confluence around 4:10 p.m. CST and I readied the camera as Tom worked to find the "zero spot" with the GPS. The photo of Tom has him standing right where the GPS read N44 W91, with estimated position error of 22 feet. The confluence was within a few feet of the southern treeline of our hill, closely mirroring what was shown on the USGS topo map. The other photos are quite representative of the local terrain: hilly, alternating between dense woods and clearings, with steep wooded ravines cutting into the hills.

A post-trip plot twist: upon returning to his home, Tom discovered his just-arrived Wisconsin registration stickers in the mail. Later that same night after work, his car was *missing* from where he had parked it. It was later found to have been struck by a hit-and-run driver, the damage being bad enough to require towing by the police! Superstitious types are asked to take note of these misfortunes before setting out for the hills of N44 W91!