Canada de las Milpas Traditional Cache
The Browns: This cache is being archived by BLM request due to it's proximity to the eastern border of the Ojito Wilderness.
[This entry was edited by The Browns on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 1:07:33 PM.]
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The cache is located in the Ojito Wilderness Area West of San Ysidro on Cabezon Road (this is not the road to Cabezon unless you want to drive the pipeline). This is land is managed by the BLM.
Note: Please be mindful of the fragile nature of the Ojito Wilderness. Geocaching will continue to be a welcome activity on BLM lands if you favor hiking skills over driving skills. This cache is not meant to be a “park and grab,” and off-road driving activities are illegal.
Although this geocache is not in the wilderness area, it is in close proximity to it. If you choose to drive, stay on the main road road north. Do not travel the side roads, especially those to the west toward the wilderness area.
Starting from the intersection of I 25 and US 550 (formerly SR 44) in Bernalillo go northwest on US 550 for 20.9 miles to Cabezon Road. This intersection is about 2 miles before San Ysidro. Turn left onto Cabezon Road. Almost immediately there is a Y in the road, go left. Snowmelt or rain can make this road muddy at times. At 6.3 miles there is a side road at N35 29.000, W106 51.409. If you park here it is 2.4 miles to the cache. This road can be driven to the cache, but portions of the road are rough, and a high clearance vehicle is recommended. If you drive to the area of the Gnome on the Range geocache it is 2.0 miles to the cache. If you drive to the Door Prize geocache it is 1.4 miles to the cache.
Milpas is Spanish for an agricultural field that is made by clearing forest and then farmed for only a few seasons before being abandoned. If there was a forest here it was probably in the time of the dinosaurs. Note that the Dinosaur Dig is to the west of this area.
There are good views from this point in most directions. Be careful with children (and yourself) near drop offs. It can be a long way down. The facility below is a natural gas pumped storage facility. There are underground caverns in the area into which they pump gas from the pipeline and presumably wait for prices to go up and pump it back into the pipeline. Don’t flick that lighter! Just kidding, I think.
The cache is a dcon container. Please replace the top tightly so the container remains waterproof.
There is an excellent viewpoint at N35° 31.429', W106° 52.076' if you want to go the extra mile (actually 1.3 miles).
Enjoy the views.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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