Santa Fe Baldy Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is a long hike and a steep climb to a major peak in the Pecos Wilderness.
My GPS said getting to this cache was almost 7 miles (one-way) and about 2500 feet of elevation gain, starting from the parking lot at Santa Fe Ski Basin. It took me 4 hours, but I was pushing hard to get there before the thunderstorms. Great views, and check out the ravens playing in the updrafts.
Many years ago, 6 of us in the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council decided to test our ability to spend the night out in winter conditions. It was February, and we chose Santa Fe Baldy as our destination. With three of us on snowshoes and three on cross-country skis, we headed out with all our winter camping gear. It was a great day, but windy, and the wind got worse as we left the trees and moved above timberline. By the time we got to the top, the wind was blowing about 50 miles an hour - enough so you had to brace yourself against it to avoid being blown over. Luckily the temperature wasn't bad, maybe in the low 20's.
One of our group was lagging behind, but eventually made it and seemed OK. But a little later he showed us his fingers which were edged with the white of frostbite. He had taken his mittens off for what seemed like only a minute to him, to work on a stuck zipper. We figured with altitude and fatigue, he had probably underestimated the time, and with the wind chill, it hadn't taken long to get in trouble.
We had planned to stay in tents, but luckily we found a snow cave someone had built and presumably used recently. It was big enough to hold three of us, so we put our injured friend in the warmest corner, and settled down for a long night. A snow cave is amazing in its ability to provide insulation, blocking the wind and holding in your heat. It was actually a pretty comfortable night.
In the morning we skied and snowshoed back to the cars and got our friend to the hospital for treatment. He was OK, just losing some skin. I always remember this incident when I'm out in the cold, keeping in mind how quickly one can get in trouble if you're not careful.
9/7/14 - Since the original cache has been muggled (now serves as the summit register), I put out a replacement, but moved the location down over the edge a little ways. It makes it a little harder to get to, but less likely to be seen by non-cachers. See the spoiler photos so you can go straight to it and not have to scramble around too much searching on loose steep ground.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Frr fcbvyre cubgbf.