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Sunnyside LbNA #5836

Owner:wandaandpete
Plant date:Sep 26, 2003
Location:
City:Abiquiu
County:Rio Arriba
State:New Mexico
Boxes:1
Found by: Kennamtn
Last found:Nov 12, 2006
Status:FFFa
Last edited:Sep 26, 2003
Ghost Ranch is located in gorgeous area of New Mexico halfway between Espanola and Chama off of Rt 84. It is owned and operated by the Presbyterian Church , but anyone is welcome to come and hike by checking in at the office between 8:30 and 4:30 daily. Just say you planning to hike to Box Canyon (about 4mi round trip) and you will be given a map and instructions on where to go to start. From the far parking lot pick up the Box Canyon trail and continue on it straight while the Kitchen Mesa trail quickly turns off right. Pass three hogans on your left, an irrigation pond on your right, and some unusual gravestones on your left. Cross an irrigation ditch and go under an aqueduct, continuing to cross and recross Arroyo del Yeso many times. (Black coffee cans numbered 1 through 8 help guide your way.) Bear right with the upper camp trail - part of the proposed route for the Continental Divide Trail - takes off the mesa. Pass a small waterfall on your left and carefully pull yourself over the last few big rocks to find yourself boxed in at the end of the canyon. From the middle of a large flatish rock about 20 feet long, take about 15 steps at 230 degrees to find the Sunnyside letterbox tucked under an overhanging rock behind several smaller stones (a stilted twin trunked Douglas Fir will be to your right). Carefully replace the rock and make your way back down the arroyo. Other great hikes in this area include those to the top of Kitchen Mesa and Chimney Rock. Hope you have a good time and drink lots of water.