Cuba Hoodoo Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Roads impassible if wet, short sand scramble to top of hogback.
Mesa de Cuba is a small piece of the Santa Fe National Forest just west of Cuba, NM. Its southern and western bases are BLM land, consisting of “badlands” with lots of interesting features: hogbacks with “hoodoos”, mud cliffs with petrified wood in abundance, round iron concretions up to several feet in diameter, etc. A hike along the western base of the mesa can hold your interest for hours. To reach the area, turn off of highway 550 onto NM 197 just south of Cuba. In a bit more than 5 miles, at N35 58.330, W107 01.718 an unassuming dirt road leads north into the area. By following roads of various qualities, you can drive quite close to the cache, or park anywhere and hike along the mesa base. Like a lot of NM dirt roads, this one becomes impassible when wet—even for 4WD. We had to delay our visit two days to let the road dry. If you want to camp in the area, and this road is wet, there is a better road leading north from N35 57.423, W107 05.721, just after NM 197 turns south. There are a few nice hoodoo formations along this road too. You don't have to be a rock climber to access this cache--there is an easy way along the ridge from the east.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx sbe gur gjva-gehax cvaba.