This blog chronicles my letterboxing adventures. It includes posts that share my travels that are letterboxing related, the letterboxes I have found and planted as well as the people I have met along the way. There are also photos included to help give a complete picture of the fun I had.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Hiking the Watchtower

Today I hiked the Atalaya Mountain Trail. It is one of my favorites hikes in Santa Fe. My plan was to find Retro Ribbit (a box hidden by HighDesertGlider back in August) and to plant a series of four boxes. It turned out to be a beautiful morning. A nice sunny day with a few clouds in the sky, perfect temperatures (it was 64º when I started hiking and it was 75º when I finished), and a gentle breeze that made me linger on the mountain for hours.

Usually I park at St. John's College when I take this hike but today I decided to try the other route. So I parked in the parking area on Camino de Cruz Blanca and started my hike. The first thing I wanted to do was to hide my letterboxes - Asian Seasons. It was only a short hike to the junction with Trail 174 that starts at St. John's. From there I continued up to the junction of the trail where you can choose whether to take a steeper route or an easy route. My plan was to use this junction as a landmark for the first box. So I made my way a little ways up the trail and rather quickly found a spot I liked for Lidong (Winter). I found the spot quickly but it took me a while to actually hide it. I had to wait for about five people to hike through first. From there I decided to continue on the easy route until I made it to the next junction. I used this as the next landmark for the next box and this time it took me a little time before I found the right spot for Lichun (Spring). For the next two boxes I headed up to the top of the mountain. When you get close to the top there is a trail sign and the trail continues to the left. I went right and found a place to hide Lixia (Summer). This was pretty easy since it isn't a busy area. Then I went to the top and used another trail sign as a landmark and found a place for my final box - Liqiu (Autumn). It felt good to get this series planted, I really like the way it turned out. I realize that not many people will get these boxes since it is such a big hike but that is okay - I really wanted this series on this trail.

Now that all my boxes were planted I was ready to search for Retro Ribbit. I read the clues and started looking around. But I was having a little trouble - there were quite a few people walking around and it was hard to be discreet. So I decided to go and sit looking at the view of Santa Fe and have some snacks and water. After a little while most of the people left and I resumed my search. About 10 minutes later I found the box. It is a nice box and worth the climb to get it. I stamped in and got it back into its hiding spot without anyone seeing me. After that I spent a little more time taking pictures and enjoying the views before heading back to the car. It was a really enjoyable hike and I saw quite a few birds, some squirrels and a couple of lizards.

No comments :

Related Posts with Thumbnails