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.
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