#2: [19-May-02]

#1: [06-Jan-01] (incomplete)

23-May-2025 -- As it has been my tradition for the last many years to take an extended weekend over the US Memorial Day holiday to visit railroad depots, abandoned buildings, grain silos, campgrounds, county courthouses, convenience stores, agricultural fields, and confluence points, I had been looking forward to this trip for an entire year. You would think that after 500 points behind me, I would grow tired of this, but not so as a geographer. There was always the attraction of getting out into the field. Finally, the day came.

This year, one of my aims was to connect the large number of points forming an oblong shape in the central and western part of the USA with my large shape to the eastern side of the Midwest. Several points between those two shapes would be wonderful if they could be filled in, I thought. There was a reason why I had not visited these points already--they would require some trekking. This filling-in goal dictated the first part of my trek; and the rest were points that I had never visited but were in some of my favorite landscapes, that of Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois. The final statistics of the trip are below.

After spending the night in the beautiful campground at the Nebraska state forest at Halsey, next to the greenhouses for the experimental trees and plants, I set out early in the day wherein it was already raining. Would I be able to traverse the gravel roads I knew lay between me and the confluence points today? I traveled southeast on State Highway 2 to Dunning and then northeast on State Highway 91 before turning north on the first gravel road. I didn't have a truck and made my way slowly, but the road was doable as it had not rained much yet in this part of the state; I would not have attempted it during a deluge. After quite a while, going very slowly, after 30 minutes, I proceeded a mile north on West North Loup Road near the North Loup River, one of the wonderfully beautiful rivers flowing through and out of the Sand Hills. The Nebraska Sand Hills are some of the least populated parts of the continental United States and indeed in all of central North America. The sky lightened and I stopped to take a picture of a rainbow out to the west. I made even slower progress on the County Road 2 to the north of this section, as it was extremely full of what we call "washboards" and gingerly made my way across the bridge (which fortunately was concrete) spanning the river itself. Turning southeast into the property where I knew the confluence would lie, I made once again slow progress. The sun began to shine through the clouds, thankfully, but since the road deteriorated, I parked about 3/4 mile from the point, and set out to walk from there.

The walk took me adjacent to the North Loup River and it was one of the most beautiful near-confluence vistas I have seen. After 15 minutes I reached the house where a camper was also parked, with some vehicles present. I knocked but upon hearing nothing; admittedly it was still early morning; I set out briskly to the east, landowner permission request letter in hand. I reached the point about 6 minutes later. It was fairly early in the morning in late spring, partly cloudy skies but a cool for this time of year temperature of about 56° F. The confluence lies on a flat tilled field that had been grazed recently, with views of the Sand Hills to the north and east. This was one of the most beautiful points I have ever visited, after over 500 points visited worldwide over 25 years. The land slopes gently to the river toward the southwest. I saw no people, and only a few birds. It was grand to be on the 100th Meridian--the traditional division between the semiarid west and the moister east. I reflected that it had been 23 years since the last visit, though certainly the landowners occasionally walked through here occasionally and the Indigenous People for centuries before that who most likely valued the proximity of the river.

I now have a very nice collection of confluence points in Nebraska spanning 25 years of visits but had not visited a point in the state since 2021 during one of my extended confluence trips. This was my 2nd last point along 42 to get for the state; one more to go, which was my goal later this same morning. I have stood on 42° north latitude in many places from Wyoming on the west all the way east to Massachusetts. I have also stood on 100° West on the north end in North Dakota all the way down along 100° west in Texas on the south. These cover an amazingly wide range of landforms, climate zones, and vegetation types.

I took photographs and posted a video, here: 42 North Latitude, 100 West Longitude. 42 North Latitude, 100 West Longitude. As always I thought of the Indigenous People, the settlers, the current caretakers of this land, and I respect them all. This is some beautiful terrain. I decided to walk due north and then northwest from the point to my vehicle as I do enjoy a good "loop" walk. The grass was very wet but it was a glorious time. I was on site for 10 minutes with a 30-or-so minute hike in each direction. As I was walking back north, the skies opened up even more and I experienced a magnificent set of clouds lit up by the sun. Back at the section line road, I proceeded down another gravel road toward the southeast, toward Brewster and Taylor, passing some wonderful farms and ranches, with some deer bounding ahead of me and more Sand Hills. I did not wish to depart but I had a goal of 4 points today, including the next one, which as I predicted, would prove to be the most challenging. I was truly grateful for the opportunity to visit this point! It would prove to be the first of 13 points over this day and the 3 days that followed.

When the trip was all said and done, here are the final statistics:

-------------------------------------------------
Days set aside to visit points:  4 days + 1 evening.

Confluence points attempted:  13.  

Confluence points successfully visited:  13. 

Points where I met the local landowner = 5 of 13 points. 

Points where I met the local dogs = 2 of 13 points.

Miles = 2547, Kilometers = 4099.
  
Percent of travel on interstate highways:  25%
Percent of travel on US, state, and county roads:  75 % :-)

Campgrounds = 4.  

Windy confluence points:  4 of 13.
Rainy confluence points:  4 of 13.
Beautiful confluence points:   13 of 13.

Convenience store stops = 8.  

Points that turned out to be

                easier than I thought they would be =           1 
                about the same as I expected them to be =       4 
                more difficult than I thought they would be =   8 
		-------------------------------------------------------
			                                       13 points.
Points          in woodlands             2
		in non-tilled fields     4
		in tilled fields   7
		-----------------------------------
			                13 points.

Points along 	42 North = 2 
		41 North = 1 
		40 North = 5 
		39 North = 3
                38 North = 1
                37 North = 1  
		----------------
			   13 points.

Points visited on 	Day 1 = 4 
			Day 2 = 4 
			Day 3 = 4 
			Day 4 = 1
		-------------------
			       13 points.  

Points visited in the 	morning = 	5 
			afternoon = 	5 
			evening = 	3 
		-------------------------------
			   		13 points

Points visited in 	Nebraska =       3
			Kansas =         2
			Missouri =       5 
			Illinois =       3
		-------------------------------
			   		13 points 

The most frequently visited longitude line:  
-------------------------------------------- 
                                      92 West:  3 points.

2nd most frequently visited longitude line:  
---------------------------------------------
                                      89 West and 99 West:  2 points each.

Get out there and explore!