Test your senses with "A Sense of Albuquerque" - Step two in the NW "QUADRANTS" series. If you haven't conquered "QUADRANTS - A place to start" yet, please do so before starting this one - it will help you on your travels and understanding!
Explanation of Methods and Generalities for the "QUADRANTS" series:
The City of Albuquerque has 4 Quadrants - The initial narration gave a bit of history. With the "QUADRANTS" series we are trying to expose the Geocacher to all 4 quadrants of our beautiful city. From the Suburban to the Urban to the outer Wilderness each in it's own quadrant, each a journey of discovery and goodwill. As far as we know, there has never been a series of geocaches like this in Albuquerque, so we decided to do it! Best of all, they will all lead you to a place in New Mexico hereby deemed: The "Heart of New Mexico"!
All of the distance/bearing and final cache location calculations for the series "QUADRANTS" were done on National Geographic's TOPO! New Mexico software, on the 7.5' map level. If you don't have the software, you can run your calcs using it at REI or easily work from a standard Albuquerque/New Mexico map or even better, USGS Topo maps (to be found at "Holmans" on Jefferson Street, NE), using a protractor or plotter, a ruler and basic math! RELAX - It's really going to be pretty easy.
You will find many similarities in the "QUADRANTS" series and you should keep that in mind with each subsequent "QUADRANT" trek - To the point of even being able to solve pieces of multiple quadrants on one visit if you prepare well (and don't wish to partake in repeat visits, each seeing interesting things)! The Cache containers are similar (at each step) between Quadrants and in general idea.
We've tried to cover all bases with this series, Multi, Virtual and Standard Caches are all included and, with the exception of the "A place to start", they are ALL offset caches. There are also varying cache sizes, Virtual, Medium, Micro, Standard and Large. The containers are either well camo'd or "army green" containers (some are Ammo Boxes).
We've tried to make this series worth your time, with some quality cache contents! Please keep that in mind when you show up. We've all seen too many caches with (ahem) "junk" in them, where the search was more fun than the contents! In this case we wanted to make both aspects of the hunt fun and hope you'll help us to keep it that way!
In the spirit of challenge, we'd ask that you follow directions and the natural order of these caches diligently. Sure, you can always try to skip a step and end up at the culmination of the series, but you'll have to live with yourself and that nagging question: Do I really deserve this (grin)?!
Most of all, relax, take your time and enjoy this series - it has taken over a month to set up and has caused minor headaches and major car problems (not to worry). But it has been fun to prepare and we hope it will be even more fun to conquer! Consider it a "Thank you" for the caches that you've put out there for us!
QUADRANTS - "A Sense of Albuquerque" - NW Suburban - SIGHT
(A Short Narrative)
The North-West Quadrant of Albuquerque reflects, in large part, the residential building boom of the 70s, 80s, 90s and into the new millennium. Unlike most other cities in America, Albuquerque has had steady growth in all of it's suburbs from its inception. However, up until recently, the housing market in the NW quadrant of town has been the most robust. This area is primarily one of young/middle-aged families with strong middle class demographics. It is an area that suffered early on from poor transportation planning (ie. a lack of bridges over the Rio Grande River and not enough arterial roads) and to some extent it still does. Despite these initial problems, the NW quadrant grew by leaps and bounds and is now home to its own large shopping mall. It also boasts the biggest growth of retail stores in all of Albuquerque. The North-West Quadrant will continue to be a place of diversity with all walks of life mingling; from the older North Valley neighborhoods to the North-West Mesa neighborhoods. Young parents will continue to enjoy this area for years to come while watching their kids play Little league & soccer in the "Suburbs"!
"A sense of Albuquerque - NW Suburban" was inspired by our youngest junior geocacher - a child who enjoys flashlights, has big brown eyes and loves to hide & play in the dark!
To solve this cache you'll need:
1. A working GPSr unit (or for you "purists" out there, a compass, plotter and a topo map).
2. A Car or bike to get to the parking area (shown below), but you might live nearby!
3. A LOG sheet to keep track of all the numbers you'll need for each QUADRANT.
4. A Pen/Pencil and warm clothes if it's getting colder outside.
5. A flashlight - unless you can see really well in the dark.
The best, but not only, parking location is at: N 35d 10.5195, W 106d 40.5090
First though, a disclaimer:
DON'T TRIP OVER THE ROCKS AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT RIFF-RAFF, THIS IS A NICE SUBURBAN SETTING WITH RESIDENTIAL AREAS ALL AROUND, HOWEVER BE SMART AND AWARE OF EVERYTHING AROUND YOU!
At "A sense of Albuquerque - NW Suburban - SIGHT", you will find a flashlight tied to a tree. Shine the flashlight in a radius around you and by using your SIGHT you will see a white reflector. The actual cache is located near that reflector. Follow the directions attached to the flashlight!
Browse the contents and box carefully for there will be clues and if you'd like some information for you to take/replace for the next step in the NW Quadrant!
PLEASE, write down and save all of the information you've acquired (on your new handy, dandy "QUADRANTS" LOG sheet) for future use!
Upon completion of this cache, you may move on to: "QUADRANTS - "A sense of Albuquerque" - NW Urban - SMELL!
Good luck and enjoy an evening cache hunt!
Notes from cougarox:
The city has added a small park and dirt parking lot just off the corner of Eagle Ranch and Coors since the cache was originally placed; you need to be southbound on Eagle Ranch to get there, but it is probably the best place to park overall. See parking coords.
The original cache, located near the reflector has been moved in the hopes that it will reduce muggling and flooding risk, which this cache has repeatedly been subject to. Please be sure to re-hide the final well, and beware of muggles.
Important: Be sure to go first to the posted coordinates to take a bearing to the location of the reflector. You will need this bearing in addition to the information you find in the final container to proceed with the series. The city removed the downed tree along with the flashlight, so you will need to bring your own, and use it at the (now treeless) posted coordinates. While it is possible to locate the reflector in daylight, it is much easier to do this at night.
Use the information in the hint to find the location of the final. Remember that bearing you took from the posted coords to the reflector? You need it now.
Good luck and have fun!
Though the way may be difficult when wet, it can be navigated. Dress for the occasion.