Stones, a Pig, a Byway and a Burro

So we are in Silver City and today our plans were to go to the Visitor Center and then head out to Reserve, Alma, Mogollon and Glenwood for some sightseeing and letterboxing. Again, this is just the letterboxing part of our day and if you want to know what else we did you can read all about it at A Town of Stone, a Scenic Byway and an Old Mine.

At the Visitor Center we talked with the woman working there (who was extremely nice and knowledgeable) about things in the area and we picked up a map and some brochures. When we were getting ready to leave we mentioned we were heading up to the Catwalk and the woman said "No, you aren't!". When we asked why, she told us that they had some bad rains last night and there was too much debris on and around the Catwalk that they closed it for the weekend. This is the second time we made plans to visit the Catwalk and the second time we were deterred. The first time happened years ago and I will forego that long and embarrassing story for now. So with this news we made changes for the day. We decided to start our day at City of Rocks State Park. This is a place we have been wanting to visit but never made the time. Now was the time. There was also a letterbox there which just added to the trip. When we arrived at the park we were going to look for the letterbox first but there was a man weed eating the exact area we needed to be. Since we couldn't get to the box we decided to head into the park and spend some time exploring the area. We spent about two hours walking around and then on our way out we stopped to find the letterbox and thankfully the coast was clear. The box is hidden near the entrance to the park and could potentially be a very busy spot. But I didn't have any problem finding the box or with anyone near us. I ended up taking the box back to the car to stamp in. After stamping in and replacing the box we headed out to continue our day.

City of Rocks is off of NM 61 on City of Rocks Road. We had come from the west to get to the park and when we left we headed east on NM 61 to the junction with NM 152.

Trail of the Mountain Spirits - View from the Car

We turned left on NM 152 and only drove a short distance before turning right onto NM 35. At this time we were on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway. I had decided that I wanted to plant my box for this byway on NM 35 so I asked Thomas to keep an eye out for a good spot. First we stopped for a bite to eat and once we had our fill we continued our drive on NM 35. We had two goals - plant a letterbox and find a letterbox. We were enjoying the drive and when we got to mile marker 16 we encountered a nice Trail of the Mountain Spirits Welcome Sign. So we stopped and inspected the area. I was able to find a good place to hide my box. I took some pictures and made notes so I could write up the clues. Then we returned to the car and drove on. So if you are driving along NM 35 and reach mile marker 16 and the Welcome Sign stop and look for NM Scenic Byways: Trail of the Mountain Spirits.

We continued our drive looking for the landmark for the letterbox we wanted to find. We found the sign we needed and turned into a picnic area to find the box. We followed a road and ended up at Lake Roberts where we took a short walk along the lake. There were no other landmarks for the box so we figured we were in the wrong spot. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of NM 35 - the clues were written coming from NM 15 and we were traveling in the opposite direction. We soon realized our mistake and crossed the road into a parking area where there was a small trail. We took the trail and followed the rest of the clues and found Pig in Purgatory by wandaandpete.

Flower along the Purgatory Chasm Loop Trail

We actually looked under a couple of rocks because we didn't find the box under the rock that was mentioned in the clues. But we ended up looking under the first rock again and Thomas actually found the box, which is a tiny, one inch by two inch camo bag. Now that we had the box I found a nice flat rock that I could sit on to stamp in. The trail we were on was the Purgatory Chasm Loop Trail. Once I stamped in and we replaced the box we headed back to our car. We didn't actually hike the entire loop, we just found the box and then returned the way we came.  Once back at the car we finished the drive on NM 35 to NM 15 and on to Silver City.

There was one more letterbox we wanted to find before calling it a day. This box was a little south of Silver City near the town of Tyrone. We drove down NM 90 and turned right onto Tyrone Thompson Road (aka Tyrone Road, Burro Mountain Road or FR 136). There is sign at the corner of NM 90 and Tyrone Thompson Road for Burro Mountain RV Park and this area is rich in mining history. The road is dirt and pretty well maintained (there were parts of the road that had washboard ruts but not too bad). We followed the road for the noted mileage but we didn't see a marker that we were looking for and continued driving thinking that the mileage was off. But after six miles we turned around and headed back. Still we didn't see the marker but we noticed a side road.

Cave Along the Trail Near Burro Mountain

So we turned on to that road and then found the next marker we needed so we figured we were in the right place. We parked and started our walk to the box. For the first part of the walk we were okay but then we couldn't find a sign we needed for the next part. We continued walking and the trail ended up crossing a stream and we figured we had gone too far because the stream was suppose to be on our right and now it was on our left. So we turned around and headed back. We had noticed a sign earlier in the walk but it was before the next landmark, not after it, so we continued on. When we returned to that sign we looked at the next part of the clue which was a gate and then a sign on a pine tree. So we went through the gate and stopped at the first pine tree and then followed the rest of the clues and we found the box - Azroadie's Burro Mountain. I grabbed the box, found a nice spot to sit and then stamped in. After replacing the box we headed back to the car and then back to Silver City. We had a great day letterboxing and visiting places we had never seen and we still have tomorrow for more fun.