While touring New Mexico, we set aside one day to go geocaching and exploring. No deadlines, no obligations, no plans. Just a chance to get out, explore, and see where the day takes us!  We decided to explore a state forest near Grants, New Mexico.  We found a few caches placed deep in the local state forest and decided we were going off to explore. So with a friend’s large pickup truck, we decided to get adventuring.  The forest was liberally covered in a blanket of white snow, but not enough to hamper our progress.  It made the entire region beautiful to see.  Stark white spatters of snow against the rusty red of the earth, and the dark evergreen trees. 

New Mexico State Forest – EarthCache

The geocache was located in a hard-to-access valley nestled between craggy hills.  We could see tracks and trails from off-road vehicles. But on this cold day, no one else was enjoying the bright sunshine in this valley. So we had the entire location to ourselves.

Following the forest access roads we got as close to the caching site as possible before we crossed a dried creek bed and ventured into the valley itself. The ground was hard packed and reasonably easy to cross – with the large pickup track.

The geocache on this site is actually an EarthCache, which means there isn’t a physical container to find. You find the location and then answer questions based on what you can see and observe.  The cache gives some details about the former structure, and it seems this building was formerly a kiln. I believe bricks were made here, based on the rubble I could find in the area. I couldn’t find much else about this collapsing structure or the facility that was formerly located here. Still, it was fun finding this hidden structure and to claim a cache that hadn’t been found in over a year.

After finding the cache, we spent some time in the valley and explored the local hills before heading out and getting a hot meal.