Smokey Bear Letterbox (planted 2 July 1999)

This is a moderately hard set of clues in that they don't give you much hint
of the somewhat dramatic landscape change over the course of 24 km and 550
meters in elevation you will experience from start to finish.

The search begins in Capitan, Lincoln County, New Mexico.

Somewhere near Capitan, NM, fire fighters found a little black bear cub,
burned and frightened, clinging to a tree. Dubbed Smokey and kept for all
the rest of his life at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the bear
symbolized the National Forest Service's anti-fire campaign and had
relatives who roamed the neighborhood of this letterbox.

To find it and retrieve an impression of the little Smokey stamp, start at
the Smokey Bear Museum on US Highway 380 in downtown Capitan, NM. You might
get a bite to eat at the Smokey Bear Cafe just down the street--a plate of
enchiladas smothered in green chile sauce and a cup of coffee eaten slowly
to better absorb the character of the community. When your ready to begin
the search in earnest, head southwest until you strike the Rio Bonito and
follow it upstream past the drowned mining town--it must have been beautiful
in its heyday. No doubt Billy the Kid rode up into these mountains on
occassion, unless the fear of Apaches and bears kept the little killer down
around Lincoln. When you strike the South fork, take it. You are almost
there when you leave your wheels at N 33 26.79 W 105 45.30. Cross the log
bridge and keep hot on the trail until you arrive at the remnants of an old
homestead. The trail splits around the old cabin. Stop at the cabin and
look around, you are within 100 meters of your destination.