New Mexico's Oldest

Finding the oldest active cache in a state seems to be a thing now. I don't remember when it became a thing, or maybe it has always been a thing and I've just noticed it. Whatever the case is, I learned that the oldest caches in New Mexico are really close by to our new home in Santa Fe, and conveniently located off of I-25 such that I could go out and find them after dropping off family at Albuquerque Sunport [airport]. Which is exactly what I did this morning.

Placitas Open Spaces as viewed from GC3C8KX

The oldest cache in new Mexico is actually a little difficult to determine. There are a group of caches placed in an area called Placitas open Space, a little juniper desert area on the outskirts of a suburban neighborhood. There are three caches that are all listed as being placed on January 15, 2001, GC190, GC192 and GC193. Oddly, GC191 is listed as being placed in April 2001. so which one is the oldest? And does it even matter? They are all in the same little cluster and can be found with a nice little 2 mile hike. Well, nice if you go early in the morning while it is still cool. I showed up about 6:30 and had a very enjoyable hour and a half of walking through the desert hills, finding those old caches and a number of others.

Sasha chases bunnies and helps me hunt caches

One of the coolest things was seeing the stamps from my fellow MOGA team-mates, Sequoia and Kimpossible. They were in New Mexico on a big road trip, and actually hiked the highest point in NM the day after we arrived in Santa Fe. I was invited, but couldn't go since we were unpacking. We are still unpacking... it's an ongoing effort. It was cool to see their stamps in the letterbox caches and know that they were here just a week ago.

The other fun thing from my morning was discovering a snake curled up right underneath a tupperware geocache. I didn't even notice the snake as I picked up the cache and signed my name in the log. It wasn't until I was about to set the cache back in the hiding spot that I saw this cute little snake all coiled up, waiting for the day to warm up. Good thing it wasn't a rattle snake.

I ended up hiking a nice 3.5 mile loop and finding ten of the geocaches in the area. There must be a couple dozen more out here. Looks like I'll have to make some more trips to the airport.

At virtual cache GC635