Las Cruces and El Paso Letterboxing?!?!?

Thomas and I are on our way home now. We spent the last couple of days in Las Cruces and El Paso. Thomas had meetings for work and I did some letterboxing. I haven't ever spent much time in this area (only really passing through), so it was a new experience for me. I had a good time and enjoyed a couple of hikes but I'm not sure if this is an area I want to spend more time in or not. Maybe in the winter when it isn't so hot.

We left Santa Fe on Wednesday morning headed down I-25. We made our first stop in Truth or Consequences, NM. Astro D has her Spaceport boxes here. We found the location for the first box but we were unable to locate the box. I was really disappointed because I love her carvings and just knew this stamp would be great. So on to the second box. This box was found easily. She had made this a two box series with only a logbook in the second box. When I opened the logbook she had both images stamped in there. And I was right both carvings were great. Now I was really sad that box one was missing. I stamped in and looked to see who had been there before me. rubberpeace and rbrhorno were the first finders and were lucky enough to get both stamps. Then Twinville Trekkers found the second box just two days before I was there. They also couldn't find box #1. After rehiding the box Thomas and I headed for Deming where his first meeting was. We had lunch and then I dropped him off at the DOT office. From here he was getting a state car, so I left Deming and made my way to Las Cruces. We would meet up again El Paso.

It was a quick drive to Las Cruces on I-10 and I made my way to Dripping Springs Natural Area. This area is about 10 miles east of Las Cruces. I hiked a one and a half mile trail and found the Dripping Spring letterbox. This was early afternoon and it was a little hot. Also I noticed some clouds moving in and I hoped they would pass so I could get the other two boxes in Las Cruces without getting soaked. I had passed "A" mountain on my way to Dripping Springs, so I made my way back to the parking area at the base of "A" mountain. I contemplated the cloud situation and thought about whether I could make it to the top and back down again without getting wet. There was a letterbox up there so I took my chances. The hike to the top was a little harder than I expected but because of the clouds and some wind at least it wasn't too hot. I made it to the top and quickly found the box. I stamped in and rehid the box then headed back to the car. Luckily no rain yet. One last box in Las Cruces - Las Cruces Flood Control Dam. By this time the clouds had disappeared and the sun was out again and it was getting warmer. So I headed out to walk along the dam. After about two miles I arrived at the spot to look for the box and there it was - right where it was suppose to be. So I sat down and enjoyed the views of the Organ Mountains while I stamped in. Once the box was back in its hiding spot I returned to my car. Having found all the boxes in Las Cruces I found I-10 and headed to El Paso.

It had been a long day of driving and letterboxing, so when I arrived in El Paso I took a shower and got dressed so Thomas and I could go out to dinner. After a nice meal it was time to relax and get some sleep - you know I had to be rested to do more letterboxing the next day. I quickly logged in my finds and wrote some notes to the placers. Now off to bed

Thomas had early meetings on Thursday morning so we were up, dressed and having breakfast by 6:30am. After breakfast and coffee Thomas headed to his meeting and I headed for Franklin Mountains State Park. It was the first day of summer and I was glad I was getting an early start. Within the park there are six boxes that I knew about. I was only looking for five of them because one was about seven miles and it was too hot already to try that long of a hike. My first stop in the park was the Ron Coleman trail at the summit of Trans-Mountain Road. A short quarter mile hike took me to the first box - Franklin Mountains Letterbox by Sandibox. She placed this box in honor of her brother who passed away not too long ago. This little tidbit of information in the logbook gave a bigger meaning to the box. Thanks Sandibox!

I continued up this same trail in search of The Elephant's Trunk. After hiking about a mile and climbing to the top of a ridge I came to the landmarks I was looking for. From here I did the requisite compass reading and began my search. It took me about 15 minutes to finally locate the geocache-letterbox hybrid. It was hidden well and blended in with the rocks. The hike up to the box was a little difficult for me - rocky trail and the heat really tired me out. I sat up there for about 30 minutes enjoying the views and resting before heading back to the parking lot.

From here I headed back down Trans-Mountain Road to the entrance of the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. Three more boxes on my list. I stopped at the ranger booth just past the entrance and parked on the side of the road. I was searching for Make the Ranger Smile. I found the box quickly and brought it back to the ranger booth where there was a picnic table with shade where I could sit and stamp in. Unfortunately there were no rangers around to make smile. So I rehid the box and headed for the Nature Walk. I walked the entire loop (about one mile) and found two letterboxes - The Nature Walk and Mogollon Mask Microbox. By this time it was noon and getting very hot. I had found all the boxes that I wanted to find so I decided to head back to the hotel and wait for Thomas. As I was driving in to El Paso the day before I saw a billboard advertising Bodies Human - Anatomy in Motion. Being a Physical Therapist and having a background in anatomy this really caught my attention. So when Thomas returned from his meeting we headed downtown to see this exhibit. I thought it was incredible and very well done. Thomas on the other hand was a little creeped out. By the time we finished the exhibit it was dinner time so we stopped and had a bite to eat. After a hot day and some hiking I wanted to get back to the hotel and rest. I logged in my finds, downloaded some photos from the camera and then went to bed early.

This morning we left El Paso early - Thomas had to drop the state car off in Las Cruces and he needs to be at work in Santa Fe this afternoon. So as we drive I am getting this blog written. Overall it was a nice trip - I found some nice boxes and saw some different places.