Mountain Guide: Update and References

[Note: This originated from a post I wrote elsewhere, and I have decided it would be useful to post here, as well]

Back in July Earlier, I wrote a guide to the mountains of Las Cruces. I actually meant to follow that up with a little more detail of each of the mountain ranges, including access points, trails, and so forth. I still plan on doing that. I ended up getting distracted with other things (or just putting it off). In the mean time, I'd like to create a listing of other, similar, guides:

Book: Day Hikes and Nature Walks in the Las Cruces - El Paso Area, by Greg Magee
I've looked through this at Coas Books before, and I really like it. I think there's a fairly diverse group of places in here, so it's not all just mountain hiking. Some of the listings are off-trail, but there are quite a few trail listings as well.

Book: A Bark In The Park: The 45 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the El Paso/Las Cruces Region, by Jessica Powers (Amazon link)
I have not looked through this guide yet, but I found it on Amazon. The Table of Contents doesn't list what the 45 places are, so I can't judge on how diverse or great of a selection is included. From what I did see, however, there was at least a good introduction on taking a dog out hiking, especially going out into the desert. This book will most likely (a complete guess) be more focused on parks and trail systems in the area, with a tendency for more easier hikes than the Magee guide.

Website: Climbing Guide to the Organ Moutains, by R.L. Ingraham
This is an outstanding guide to more technical and difficult hikes/climbs in the Organ Mountains. Not all of the destinations listed here require rope and/or other technical skills, but quite a few do. The rest are fairly difficult hikes, mostly done without trails (or are non-managed, faded-out, and require bushwacking in spots). With that, this is a guide for getting to the top of many of the peaks in the Organ Mountains. If you want to see spectacular views, and love a challenge, this is a great guide.

Website: SummitPost page on the Organ Mountains
SummitPost.org is an all-around great source for climbing peaks, mountaineering, and other similar activities (lots of names apply to these). All the pages are written by other SummitPost users who have done these hikes in the past. After a page is put up, comments can be written with corrections to that if needed. This page covers some of the main peaks in the Organs, although not nearly as detailed as the Ingraham site. I think the SummitPost website is also more basic and easier to find what you need (since the Ingraham site doesn't have too many good pictures to help identify some of the locations, at least from what I found). To view individual peaks and trails in the Organs, use the menu on the left (under "Children").

There are probably quite a few more sources out there- please comment if you have any you'd like to mention. I'll probably update this entry as I get more references, instead of posting a new entry for each additional listing (just to keep everything together).

Mountains of Las Cruces: Introduction

I go hiking a lot in the mountains (often to the top of them). It can sometimes be difficult to explain to friends where exactly I'm going, however, since it has occurred to me people don't pay attention to the mountains as much as I do (and don't really know the different peaks). Not a problem! That's why I've decided to produce a nice little guide to the mountains around Las Cruces. I'll start with the basics in this post, and then move into more specifics (talking about each range in detail, and even a few peaks and hiking areas).



On the map, I've labeled the major peaks of the area (although I just realized I forgot to label Bishop's Cap- which is located at the very bottom of the image). The Organ Mountains have quite a few named peaks, so I only labeled the highest point (the Organ Needle).

There are three main mountain ranges in the area, or at least that people should be concerned with for hiking purposes:

The Organ Mountains, east of Las Cruces, are the most well-known. It’s probably one of the most popular backdrops to photos of the city and the area, and it’s generally hard to miss in town. I'll spend a good amount of time explaining the different peaks.

The Robledo Moutains are west of Las Cruces, essentially running north from Picacho Peak (another landmark of the area). In addition to Picacho Peak, there are two other major named peaks in this range, both in the northern part of the area by Radium Springs. The highest point in the range is Robledo Mountain. North of that is Lookout Peak (although I’ve also heard of it named “Signal Peak”).

The third major range in the area is the Doña Ana Mountains, north/northeast of Doña Ana. There are two major named peaks in the Doña Anas: Doña Ana Peak and Summerfold Mountain (not shown on the map- it’s a bit farther north, and more separated).

Another major range that might be worth pointing out is the San Andreas Mountains, which are the mountains directly north of the Organ Mountains, on the other side of US Highway 70. This range, however, is closed to public access. It's on a wildlife refuge, that is completely surrounded by White Sands Missile Range.

Leave of Absence

As it turns out, I haven't been caching much lately. Some have noticed my lack of hides and finds. I haven't done any local caching. Most of the caching I have done within the past few months has been on vacations: San Francisco/Wheatland (for Geowoodstock) and Navajo Lake (camping with my family). I haven't forgotten or given-up caching, or replaced it with Waymarking. Life just gets in the way sometimes, forcing more important issues to be dealt with (amazingly enough, there are more important things than Geocaching in life... sometimes that can be hard to realize). I hope to get back into things soon, though (especially since it's starting to get less hot out).

Caching dry spell

The last time I went without caching for about a month, a few of the local cachers noticed. Except for my Geowoodstock Trip at the end of May, I haven't been doing much caching lately. I think every cacher probably goes through "dry spells." For me right now, this includes transportation (gas, and my truck isn't in the best condition to do much driving), other things in life (trying to find a job), heat (summer in New Mexico limits caching severly - I don't want to do any all-day hikes when it gets to triple digits in the afternoon), and finally not many caches to choose from (I've found the majority of caches in the area, except for the more difficult ones I've had trouble with in the past, leaving me to travel for more unfound caches).

What does one do while in a dry spell? This is a chance to explore some "armchair caches," caches that can be done remotely (through a computer). This also lets me do some waymarking. Waymarking involves mostly taking photographs of sites, as well as recording the coordinates- which takes much less time than finding a cache. It can also be done easily while running errands: simply snap the photo.

It also leaves me a chance to plan for upcoming caches to place. I have one rather long multi-puzzle cache I've been planning, but just haven't had to time to fine-tune it. It will involve solving many puzzles and require traveling throughout the region to complete. I've also wanted to finish my "ABC's of Geocaching" series (which I'll describe in another blog).

For those with limited time, this could be a good chance to collect materials for caches. While cleaning around the house, for example, keep an eye out for what could be a good container. Organize your existing caching materials. If you want to actually go out and cache, this seems to be the reason a lot of urban caches exist. One common urban cache is the "lampskirt." They all are fairly easy to find, but do offer the chance to at least get out of the house and find a cache. Sometimes that's a nice feeling, just to get in the "caching zone" again.

Geowoowoodstock VI

Last week, I flew out to California for Geowoodstock VI. I spent most of my time on this week-long adventure between San Mateo and San Francisco to get use out of the free accommodation (my brother lives in the area). On Saturday, we headed out for Geowoodstock VI in Wheatland, just north of Sacramento.

It was amazingly fun. There were lots of geocaching-related vendors, selling geocoins, caches, GPS units, shirts, car accessories, anything that might be appealing to geocachers. I'm amazed I didn't go into debt just from looking around. Throughout the day, there were many classes being offered, such as using a GPS unit, using a map and compass, various software programs (such as GSAK), hiking, etc. There were also lots of games, ranging from panning for gold to hunting for geocoins using a metal dector (that was fun). Geobingo was a bit of a challenge. You had to find cachers who met certain criteria, such as having 5000 finds, being from out of state, caching since 2001, and so forth. I somehow managed to complete mine to get many raffle tickets. Music was playing throughout the day, and lots of interesting cachers were there waiting to be met (including one oddly green cacher).

One of the other interesting sites included the original can of beans, which was a trading item put into the first geocache. I'm not sure I'd want to eat any of those beans after this time, but it was at least interesting to see it,

Next year's Geowoodstock will be in Bell Buckle, TN, which is approximately an hour's drive from Nashville, according to Google Maps. It was certainly fun to attend with lots to do. I don't know if I'd set this as a high priority to attend another one, since I have a feeling the next one would be just like this. It's definitely worth going to once, though. I'm sure each one has it's own flavor and is equally fun, but once is enough to say I've been to Geowoodstock.

Geocaching camera and water caches

I've been looking for a new camera lately. One that really seems interesting is the Olympus Stylus 850 SW. It's shockproof, waterproof, and dustproof. This makes it one rugged camera- perfect for geocaching. What's neat is that you could drop it (from 5 feet) and it'd be fine. You can even take it underwater up to 10 feet (the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW can go down to 33 feet- in addition, the 1030 is crushproof to 220 lbs).

That got me thinking about water caches. I've only had to wade through water to get to one cache (ignoring rain, or simply taking a bad route): The Gates of Mordor, in which I had to cross the Rio Grande (there is no public bridge to that side at that particular spot). Imagine how great a waterproof camera would have been. I could have put the camera in the river to take a picture of any fish that were there (probably not that many, considering how low the river was). I still got some good shots without doing that (my log), though- just nothing underwater. It's also a good thing I didn't drop my camera into the water (another good thing if I had this camera).

It'd be fun to go out and do a cache I actually had to swim to. Living in New Mexico, however, there aren't many caches that are "water caches." There's one at Elephant Butte (Namesake Cache) that you have to take a boat to get to. Maybe if I move or visit some place a bit more wet, I'll be able to get to a wet cache. Hopefully by then I'll have a camera suitable for the adventure.

Cachmobiles

Although for many (most?) caches, I've gotten there by the amazing luck that my truck would make it, I've also gotten to caches by bike (in addition to walking- but let's not go there). A few weeks ago, I rode my bike out 4 miles (8 miles round-trip) to get a cache. I have a feeling if I had driven to the area and just walked the last 600 feet to get to the cache, it wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding. I still would have found the cache, sure- but there's just something of an accomplishment of going 8 miles to find a cache. I think by having more energy and effort that goes into doing a hobby, more is gotten from it. In this case, I was able to get out of the house, get some exercise, and get a sense of achievement. Driving doesn't really allow for that. It is necessary to do though, particularly for the more remote caches- often which are rewarding in their own right.

In May, I'll be visiting San Francisco (en route to Geowoodstock VI in Sacramento). While in the area, I'm hoping to spend one day on Angel Island. There are about 40 caches there. The best part is that I should be able to rent a bike for the day. I think riding my bike to get 40 caches in a day is an ambitious goal. Driving to those caches would still be an accomplishment- but there's just something about that extra effort. I guess because even more goes into finding those caches than just finding the caches. The bike riding is its own special accomplishment, combined with geocaching, making it all the more great. It's the same with hiking and geocaching. They just go great together.

FTF: First to Finally realize there's an addiction?

In my area, I've become well known. There are many reasons for this: my kilt, the events I've thrown, some evil caches, riding my bike around, and perhaps even some of the logs I write. One other thing I'm known for: being the first to find.

I'll admit it. I'm somewhat of a FTF hound. Right now, I have about 55 first to finds out of 505 total finds - almost 11% of my finds are FTFs. Do those numbers actually mean anything? Not at all. In fact, recently I've been trying not to put so much emphasis on actually being there first. It's all entirely random who is the first to find. It's all about who has the most free time (I happen to have a very flexible schedule right now), who happens to be available at the moment, and who just happened to check their e-mail at the right time. It really is all coincidental. It doesn't matter if I find the cache first or tenth. It's still located at the same place and still ends up getting me out of the house to do something I enjoy.

I still go for FTFs, however, because I've found most of the caches in the area- except for the "trouble" caches, or ones I just haven't been able to get to for whatever reason. A new cache means I can once again go out to geocache, instead of just staying inside all day. That's my big motivation. Plus, there are some fun stories about getting there first- since you have no one's experience to base yours off of. You might get stuck because you didn't know about a certain hole in the road, or get lost because you couldn't find the turn off. There's also the fun of meeting other geocachers attempting to get a FTF. It seems more likely there will be more geocachers at a new cache than one that's been around for a while- although I have met up with cachers randomly at older caches.

I guess my overall view of a FTF is that it can be fun, and for those who have found the majority of the caches in an area, it almost becomes a necessity to continue caching- perhaps not being first to find, but certainly going after the new caches. It shouldn't be a big deal, however, since it really is almost random and circumstantial as to who actually gets to the cache first.

Origins: Mowhawk Mesa

An interesting thing happened to me recently: I have in my possession the very first cache I found. I finally made it back to that "first time": Mowhawk Mesa, Crack in the Earth Cache (note it's not an "earthcache"- there's a space between the words). I even picked up a souvineer: the cache itself. As it turned out, the container has been retaining water. While it doesn't rain too much here, it does every so often. When that happens, water fills up in the container. It's actually a nice container with no holes in it. The lid just isn't water-sealed, and looks like it can come off easily (not to mention the fact that we found the container with the lid off).

It was nice being in the area again. It's not just that it's a really nice area (although it is- amazing) with some really cool geologic features (going through a slot canyon is quite the adventure). It's just something about that "first cache" that creates something special about the place.

I'm just glad I was able to actually replace the cache. It's in a less interesting container (a standard ammo can), but at least it won't retain water when it rains in a few months.

Mowhawk Mesa, alone is interesting in just the way it's shaped. It's not a very big mesa (maybe 10 feet by 100 feet- max); although from one side, it is steep.

The big draw to the area is the slot canyon. A slot canyon is essentially a very narrow and deep canyon. It's probably only 5 feet wide- which means it's just barely big enough to walk through, and especially difficult if you have a backpack on or are carrying anything (like the original cache container). It's full of lots of turns, making it difficult to get through.

In these slot canyons, it's also rather dark. Just because of how deep they are (50+ feet) and how narrow they are, sunlight doesn't get in so well. That makes the insides of these canyons dark and (literally) cool.

There are also some drop-offs that are fun to try and get around. In the slot canyon I was in, it emptied into a bigger one. My friend and I thought long and hard about whether to try and drop down or go a long way around. If we did that, it'd mean going back through the slot canyon up over a few hills, and then trying to find a way into the bigger canyon... although we, at the time, didn't know if that bigger canyon would also have some drop-offs. We finally decided to do it. It was about a 10-foot drop-off to the bottom of a semi-circular ledge, followed by another 5-foot into the bigger canyon. Probably not the best idea to actually go down that. We made it out without injury, however.

Statistics links

Is it about the numbers for you? Check out these sites.

Links

• Cacherstats.com - Listing of geocachers with 200+ finds
• Itsnotaboutthenumbers.com - Generates caching statistics, like the above images
• CacheStats - software from LogicWeave to generate similar geocaching stats (with the advantage of having the stats on your computer, and not on a website like itsnotaboutthenumbers.com)
• FindStats - software for stats
• Zinnware's Geocaching page - contains his personal stats, plus the cachers with the most finds and the cachers with the most hides.
• Deep Southwest Geocaching - Displays lots of stats for the southwest
  

I need statistics, stat!

Geocaching is a great hobby/sport/game that people get involved in for many reasons. I love doing it because it gets me out of the house (away from tv and addictive computer games, such as Civilization or Simcity). Plus, I've seen lots of great new places and met a whole new group of people who are interested in getting out.

Keeping that in mind, many people like to keep track of the statistics involved. Why? "It's not about the numbers," some will say. It's not. I don't go geocaching to get more numbers, necessarily- although the number of finds you have is somewhat of an accomplishment. I think in that sense, many people like keeping track of what they've managed to achieve. It's a lot of fun, but there can be quite a bit of investment. Geocaching can take up a lot of time and energy. Keeping track of the statistics, in this sense, I think is somewhat like hanging an award on a wall. The stats are really only useful at the personal level (except maybe first-to-finds). It is kind of interesting, however, to look at maps to see where a geocacher stays... or even to see the terrain ratings to find out what type of caches they do.

I think it's also neat to look at the terrain/difficulty combinations. Going back on the idea of achievement, trying to fill out that entire chart sets a very ambitious goal- physically (for the 5-star terrain) and mentally (oy vey- the puzzles).

As you can see from my stats on the left, I cache mostly in southern New Mexico. I'd like to expand this area to include all 33 counties in the state, primarily because of the 2007 New Mexico Challenge (and the upcoming 2008 NM Challenge, where there will be a new cache at each state park).

I know not everyone is interested in statistics. I can see. I try not spend too much time looking over them. It's a lot more fun to be out there hiking up a mountain and getting scratched up by vegetation (keeping in mind I live in New Mexico, where almost every cache has the "thorns" attribute), but sometimes it's nice just to take a break and see what all I've done so I can plan ahead for what I'll do in the future.

500th cache

Last week, I found my 500th cache. I was hoping for a really "super" great cache, such as one of the Hercules caches (it was originally my goal to get up to the Organ Needle- Hercules Labor 11). That didn't quite happen, however. My 500th find turned out to be "On A Boulder" (by Mr. Waldo). It was a good cache, but not necessarily as "memorable" as I would like it. My 500th log, however, was "A" OK, by one of my best friends who I've known since middle school. I'm a bit prone to think of this as my "500th" for sentimental reasons. Even ignoring that fact, this was a major pain to find- took a big group of people (attending an event). The owner herself couldn't even remember exactly where the second stage was. That makes for a very memorable cache.

Events: Location

Yesterday, I held my third event: F is for Friends Having Fun. While there, I was talking with a cacher who wanted to put on an event, but couldn't find a place for it. This is a problem I was having when planning my event. Here are my experiences, and what I've learned from other cachers about location (plus some related thoughts):

• Restaurant - Having an event at a restaurant can work out well as a "meet and greet." This is how my first event, Pillage the Village... Inn, took place. It was held at a Village Inn, with probably 20 or so people. It was mostly a "meet and greet." I did have a quiz about geocaching.com and caches in the area so I could give out a few prizes. Otherwise, people just chatted and ate.
  
• Advantages:
  
• Little preparation needed
• Good for "simple" events- no caching needed
• Good for meet and greets
• Variety of food (depending)
• Disadvantages:
• Requires collaboration with the restaurant and waitstaff
  
• Might require a fee (to rent a room, for example)
• Might require payment ahead of time for a pre-made menu
• Not much time (or space) for caching
• Less control about set-up
• Limited space
  

• State or National Park: I haven't had an event at a state/national park. This experience comes from talking with a cacher who wanted to set one up, but had trouble doing so.
• Advantages:
• Usually a scenic setting
• Usually a good amount of clean facilities (bathrooms, shelters, water)
• Open-space land
  
• Disadvantages:
• Reservations might have to be made months in advance
• Space might be limited
• Land might not be permitted to have caches

• BLM Land: My third event (F is for Friends Having Fun) was held at a BLM shelter, near a popular recreation area. There were approximately 50 people attending and 11 caches placed near the cache, with 3 more a bit farther away.
  
• Advantages:
• Free or low-cost
• Easy to hide caches with plenty of open-space areas
• More control in setup
• Fewer overall restrictions
  
• Disadvantages:
• Few facilities available, depending on the area (no bathrooms, water, tables etc.)
• Might be in a remote area (depending)

Log Sheets

Ever need a log sheet? These are some useful places to go (at least for micro caches):

• Geocacher-U log sheets
• TechBlazer's log sheets
• Wyoming-Nebraska Area Geocachers (WNAG) Documents
• Lil Devil's Geocaching Page log sheet
• Manitoba Geocaching Association log sheets
• Texas Geocaching cache documents
  
• Southern California Geocaching documents
  

Waymarking: Something to Consider

I recently visited waymarking.com for some unknown reason. The last time I visited it was about two years ago. I saw there was little activity in my area, so I just brushed it off. I also didn't like how it was set up because I couldn't seem to find any good categories.

It seems somewhat more appealing to me now, though. I think partly because I've found many of the caches in my area (except the super hard ones). Waymarking gives me a new reason to go out with my GPS. It's also easier to "hide" a Waymark than a Geocache. With waymarking, it's just about taking a waypoint of a certain place and describing it online (plus taking a picture is usually needed to verify information). Geocaching requires a container to be hidden. This ultimately means I have to buy a container, put tradeables in it, find a place it won't get muggled, etc. It's fun to hide new caches, but it is quite a bit of work.

I was browsing around the site a bit, and it doesn't sound too difficult or painful to use. Plus, there are some waymarks in my area that have been listed- which is motivating for me. Two years ago, seeing no listings in southern New Mexico was a disappointment. It was also harder at that time to find nearby waymarks, as I'm not sure the map search worked. Everything seems to be in order now, and I'll give it a chance.

Looking over the categories, there are a few that I'll probably spend some time adding listings to the state parks, mountain peaks, former schools, etc. Mountain peaks should be incredibly easy for me, since I've been doing the Twelve Labors of Herculces cache series.

I actually can see now how people can get into Waymarking. A few years ago, I didn't. Now that the site's grown a bit, it does sound like fun. Find an interesting location, take a picture, take the coordinates and document it online so others can find it, too.

Introduction

I've been wanting to create a geocaching website for some time, but couldn't figure out what to put on it. I realized a blog might be a great way to do it, especially after coming across blazerfan's blog. The goal of this site will be to share resources in geocaching (software, stores, links). I'd also like to brain storm ideas for new caches or existing ones (ie, what makes a good cache), or just post anything generally related to geocaching, hiking, and other similar-themed topics.