Project GNOME Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

keltickacher: This cache has a special place in my geocaching heart. The original was a Virtual cache placed by TC Chap in 2001 only a few days before I took a first look at the Geocaching web site. It was the only cache in SE NM and was only 40 miles from home. I was the first to find the cache and it was my first find. TC Chap passed away a few years later. The day after the original cache was archived I replaced it with a physical cache. It's been going ever since.

Now, time and wear and tear have hit both the cache and my knees. I'm about a month out from beginning my assimilation into the collective with knee replacements. Who knows how well that will work. If successful, I may replace the cache. My real hope is that some of the current area cachers will replace it once I archive this one.

In any event, my thanks and best wishes to all who have visited over the last 21 years and especially to TC Chap (RIP).

Happy Geocaching to All!!!!
Jim
KelticKacher (previously KM5BS and part of Team ZiaCache)

More
Hidden : 8/6/2009
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

In Memory of tcchap.
He placed a virtual cache here in 2001, the first cache in Eastern NM.
My thoughts go out to his family.

02-9-13. Cache was replaced today and moved a bit to get it away from activity at the site. The cache is pretty well cammo'ed and in a mesquite bush, so poke around a bit if you don't see it at first. My thanks to the two that reported it missing! KK

Desert precautions apply!!! Nothing that lives here is particularly happy to have visitors
The road is wide and looks flat. It is 3 miles of washboard, so drive slow. The oilfield is booming, so watch for trucks going wherever they want to go.

 

Gnome Site Marker

I have a fond spot in my caching heart for this cache - it was my first find way back in 2001 and I got the FTF on it.

In November 2001, tcchap placed virtual caches at all the atomic test sites around the country, including here at Project Gnome. It remained an active cache until yesterday when it was archived following the passing of tcchap. I went out today and placed a physical cache to mark the historic spot and in memory of the fellow that introduced me to geocaching from a thousand miles away.

Tcchaps original cache page can be found by clicking on the "Related Web Page" link at the top of this page.

This cache marks the site of an underground atomic bomb test on December 10, 1961 as part of Operation Plowshare. I have a vivid memory of a cold Sunday morning in Roswell, NM (90 miles away) that day. The media had suggested the blast might be felt there if you were to sit on bare ground and be very quiet. They also suggested placing a pan of water on the ground and watching for ripples (and this was decades before that famous scene from Jurassic Park).

My dad and I sat in the yard for a long time and never felt anything or saw any ripples. But we had a great time doing it - one of the fond memories I have of growing up.

BTW, this site was opened to the public in the 80's after all traces of radiation had faded away to normal background levels.Cattle now graze here. The location is on public land.

Anyway, Here is some of the original text from tcchap's cache page about the test:

The GNOME device was emplaced 1,184 feet underground in bedded rock salt at the end of a 1,116 foot hooked tunnel meant to be self-sealing. A shaft 1,216 feet deep and ten feet wide ended in a station room connected to the tunnel.

GNOME was detonated at noon local time with a yield of 3.1 kilotons. When detonated, the device, created a cavity 164 feet long and 72 feet high. Although it had been planned as a contained explosion, GNOME vented to the atmosphere. A cloud of steam started to appear at the top of the shaft 2 to 3 minutes after the detonation. Gray smoke, steam, and associated radioactivity emanated from the shaft opening about 7 minutes after detonation. Radioactive materials vented to the atmosphere about 340 meters southwest of ground zero. Within 11 minutes after shot-time, both the shaft and the ventilation lines were issuing large quantities of steam. During the next 30 minutes, the large flow continued and then began to decrease gradually. The highest measured onsite gamma intensity was 1 R/h. This intensity was recorded 1,300 meters northwest of the shaft opening at 7:38pm on shot-day. The highest offsite reading was 1.4 R/h, encountered along Highway 128 one hour after detonation.The surface radioactivity resulting from the escape of steam decayed rapidly. On the following day, a small flow of steam was still detectable. Underground recovery operations began six days after the detonation. These operations were delayed, in part because of the high radiation levels at the shaft opening (for example, 5 R/h at 9:08am the next morning).

When workers reentered that cavity on May 17, 1962, they found temperatures around 140 degrees Fahrenheit but only small amounts of residual radiation. The earlier intense radiation had colored the salt of the cavity wall various shades of blue, green, and violet.

The new cache is a short walk across mostly level ground from the test site marker. It is a sandwich size locking polycarbonate box cammo'ed to blend in.

To get there, turn south on Mobely Ranch Road from SR 128. You'll soon come to a Yield sign at a fork in the road (no idea why they need a Yield sign out here!). Keep going straight south (left fork).

In a couple places you'll notice the road has some old pavement - that's the original from 1961. The bomb was placed underground via a shaft down over a thousand feet and horizontal for another 1100'. The entry to that shaft can be found alongside the road south of the cache at Waypoint G4. There are still some electrical cables sticking out of the ground. There are numerous foundations and artifacts in the surrounding area from the operation. Please leave things as you find them.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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