Reserve is a small and picturesque town in a tiny mountain town kind of way, emphasis on “small”. It’s no Paint Rock, but New Mexico is a completely different creature. While Reserve is geographically smaller (.5 square miles vs. 1.6 square miles), it’s population is slightly larger (289 vs. 273). It also has a courthouse that, sadly, testifies to its stature. I was not impressed, but what more should I have expected? I certainly didn’t hold it against the town, though. At least I was able to find the place with a minimum of muss and fuss. I hit the bathroom and grabbed some lip balm at the store next door (later being reminded why I never buy lip balm in the first place) and set off to find a cache.
As you can see, the cache was just a little bulb stuck in a guard rail, a “classic urban camo hide.” This, of course, is deceptive for two reasons: 1.) the cache had fallen to the ground and I found it in a bunch of overgrowth, surmising from its silver paint that it must have fallen from the guard rail, and 2.) since it wasn’t in the guard rail to start with, I thought a nearby historical marker was the GZ and the coords were not disputing that idea. So I spent 15 minutes poring over this marker, especially since so many of the logs had mentioned it. Could I have been that bad at this? I even phoned a friend who’s handle I saw in the logs. He couldn’t remember finding it because I had misread a very similar name in the logs that wasn’t his. So I looked over it again and again until I was ready to give up. I gave the description another read and thought to myself If this was supposed to be a “classic urban camo hide,” I would have put it in the guard rail, so I went back and gave it another look. Lo and behold, I caught a flash of silver in the grass and it was found! I guess my point here (and I do have one) is have faith in yourself and trust your geosenses, folks! They often will not steer you wrong (unless, of course, the cache is designed to play upon your senses to fool you, in which case do not do that)! Having signed the log and spent enough time in the cool mountain air, I got back on the road, passing the courthouse one more time, to continue trekking on to…
Geocaching While Black 