Hart Canyon Road and Alien Run Trail

Today I am going on another drive - this time along Hart Canyon Road just north of Aztec. I have clues for three series planted along here. The three series have a total of 18 boxes and that is my plan for the day. I didn't leave the hotel until a little after 8:00am so I didn't start boxing until around 8:40am. At the beginning of Hart Canyon Road (aka CR2770) there is another road that goes off to the right and there is a small building in the space between the two roads and this is where the first series starts. The first series I started looking for was C4's Arch Rock Stampede (a series of 10 boxes) and I found the first one without a problem. I then continued my drive up Hart Canyon Road stopping at different odometer readings along the way to find a box.

Triple Point

The first three matched up perfectly and I had no problems but the fourth one was a little off but as I was looking for a sandy road on the left I was able to find the spot and find boxes 4 and 5 here. After this things really fell apart. My mileage didn't match the mileages in the clues so I had to try and match landmarks. The clue for the sixth box talked about 'Triple Point'. I found a formation with three spires right off the road and the mileage was close enough that I figured I was in the right spot. I parked and walked up to the formation and started following the clues. I didn't find a box but I did enjoy the area and after about 20 minutes I decided to move on.

 [Note: Usually I print out any New Mexico clues as they show up and when I am heading out I check to make sure the clues are still valid - if not I reprint them. For box #6 in this series I didn't notice that it was marked as retired when I checked it - so not finding the box was my bad. I need to be more diligent when planning boxes.]

So now I was looking for box 7 and the mileage was still off. But I was looking for a smokey cave and eventually found it (incidentally this is where one of the other series starts - but I was trying to finish this series first so I didn't stop here).

Yellow Prickly Pear Bloom

The clue stated I needed to turn left onto a side road just past the cave. So I turned on the first road I came to. The next part of the clue stated you would go over a cattle guard, which I did. Then after that nothing made sense and my mileages weren't matching at all. So I looked for the next landmark which was a "Y" in the road (there were lots of "Y's" in the road so I stopped at any one I saw. I was looking for a tree at the intersection with a 'spor' but never found one, so I never found box #7. The next box was to continue on the road until I saw Arch Rock but I never found it. So I turned around and went back to the smokey cave.

Sego Lily (aka Mariposa Lily)

I parked in front of the cave and zeroed out my odometer (the clue stated I was to be at 6.1 here) and decided I would just drive the distance between the cave and box #7 (this was at 7.5, so I needed to be at 1.4 on my odometer). At 1.4 there was no "Y" so I drove until I got to one - still no box. So I went back and looked to see if I had missed a "Y" and I hadn't. So I decided to just forget about the rest of the boxes in this series and move on to the next series. I drove back to the smokey cave and pulled up to it and found the first box in Sunny Delight's Alien Trail series. At the cave I zeroed out my odometer and had to calculate my mileage since the mileage for this series started at US550 and I had now blown that with driving up the side road. This time the mileages all worked out. According to this series the cave was at 5.7 so I made this my zero. After stamping in and replacing the first box I moved on. I went .3 miles and found box #2 quickly and the continued on. At 6.9 miles there was to be a parking area and for me that was 1.2 and I was in the right spot. From here I was hiking the Alien Run Trail while looking for the last four boxes of the Alien Trial series and the two boxes for the ET in AZ?? series (actually only one because the second box was marked retired). So I started my walk and only a short distance down the trail I found box #3. After stamping in I went through a fence and up a small hill and was greeted with an amazing view. A green valley below with incredible rock formations to the right and a beautiful snow capped mountain range in the background. I stood here for a few minutes enjoying everything. Incidentally I was the only car in the parking lot and I didn't see anyone else on the trail - it was so peaceful. Anyway, I continued on the trail and found box #4 of the AT series and box #1 of the ET series in the same area.

View from Alien Run Trail

I stamped into both and replaced them and then continued on to box #5 in the AT series. This one was just a little ways up the trail and I had no problems finding it. After stamping in I started for the last box. So that you know - the trail I was on is called Alien Run Trail and is so named because of an alleged UFO crash here. Now I was looking for a sign on a post off to the right in an open area which marks the actual site of the crash. So as I walked I kept my eyes peeled for the sign. Eventually I saw it and made my way to it. The second box in the ET series was hidden at the base of the sign (which is bare - and I guess it was too tempting for someone who was there to take the box) and there was nothing there when I arrived. So I followed the clues for the last box in the AT series and easily found it. You went from the sign to the chin of a man made rock outline of an alien head and then to the box. I found it, sat down and stamped in and then replaced it. I then found a nice spot and had a snack and some water and enjoyed all the beauty around me. Twenty minutes later I made my way back to the parking area and then headed back to US550.

Here are some articles about the alleged UFO crash near Aztec . . .
Aztec, NM: UFO Crashed Here
Aztec, New Mexico Crash Recovery of 1948
1948, The Aztec UFO Crash
Aztec (New Mexico) UFO Hoax
The Aztec, New Mexico UFO Crash

By this time I was hot and tired and decided to call it a day. On my way back to the hotel I decided to stop at a store and get some fruit and snacks. Once at the hotel I took a shower and relaxed for a while and then decided to write this post. I still have tomorrow so I will also make some plans for that.