"Thos' Degrees of Longitude and Latitude in Name, yet in Earthly reality are they Channels mark'd for the transport of some unseen Influence, one carefully assembl'd chain..."
    -- Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon

Any location on the globe is a confluence -- a cross of longitude + latitude projected onto the world. And it's a confluence in a broader sense -- that is, as a mingling of human conception and the Earth itself. Geocaching has called our attention to thousands of such points around the world. Some points, though, seem intrinsically noteworthy, through the simple appeal of whole numbers: no minutes, no seconds, nothing past the degree decimal point. The Degree Confluence Project is dedicated to these points, much as this website is dedicated to those points we have marked with our caches, both physical and virtual.

This geocache is intended to serve as a confluence between geocaching and the Degree Confluence Project. Toward this end, we have placed a physical cache at N 36, W 79 -- the Triangle's own point of whole-number confluence. For further information, you may refer to the Degree Confluence Project's web listing for this spot:

http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=36&lon=-79

This is a heavily wooded area, and our GPSr was giving only about 50 feet of accuracy, so we may have placed the cache slightly off what you determine to be the confluence. This is important to bear in mind, especially since the cache is well-hidden, employing a natural hiding place enhanced by human hands. We will offer no further clues as to its location, and we ask that you not post any spoilers.

Please bring only small items to trade -- the cache is a six-inch-diameter, three-inch-high cylinder. Travel bugs take precedence; if you're bringing a bug, take out as much as you need to (except for the log-bag contents) to make room.

We look forward to reading the stories that come together in the log book and on this webpage.

-- The Alethiometrists

Update: 4-3-04 - During a service visit we placed a screwdriver in a bag adjacent to the cache container, for help in opening the lid. Please leave this with the cache. Thanks!

On this visit, we parked at Forest Gate 46 -- N 36 00.780, W 78 59.995 (being sure to not block gate). This road ends at 36 00.591, 79.00.089, which is still a little over 2/3 of a mile to the cache, but we've found this to be the best route in. It's a straight shot south from there, and after a rough first 1,000 feet or so, it's pretty easy hiking. Good luck!