2009-11-06 34 -107
| Fri 6 Nov 2009 in 34,-107: 34.1107714, -107.4648176 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
Behind a few small mountains just northeast of the VLA.
Participants
- Redaragorn and 3 yr old son
Plans
I woke up knowing this was gonna be a drive and geohash kind of day, so I headed out at 7:30 to see where the Internet was telling me I should go. Based on where the geohashes fell, I figured I could finally catch the Magdalena hash after considering it for quite a while (and even attempting it once or twice). While I was heading south and west, I looked a little further along US 60 and realized that the Quemado hash looked eminently accessible as well. I'd been wanting to get to that area anyway, so I was eager to get out there. To top it off, I could get the triple virgin graticule day by catching an easy hash in the Gallup graticule. Let's do it!
More specifically for Magdalena, though, I saw that there was a stock tank around a mile from the hash that had access roads leading to it that appeared to be in good shape from the satellite photos. There was another road to the east of the mountains, but it was longer and appeared to be less-maintained. I opted to drive past the hash and take the west road around the mountains, then cover an easy, level mile to the hash. I was a little confused as to land ownership, though. The Google map had it marked as National Forest land, but the BLM surface management map and my atlas showed it as private land. I figured I'd take my chances and see how it went.
Expedition
On the drive west from the town of Magdalena, I noted that the east road I'd seen on the satellite maps was gated and marked as a private ranch, so I wasn't terribly encouraged. I got around to the west road and was greeted with a
Track
Track located here.
Pictures
The road I was *supposed* to take to get close to the hash.
GPS coordinates and XKCD marker.
Me grinning and son being goofy.
