This is day 7 since leaving Doc Campbell’s Post where I picked up my last resupply box. This morning we head into Pie Town. It should be a moment to celebrate, but a couple circumstances have dampened that enthusiasm. First, there are two restaurants in Pie Town, the Pie-o-neer and the Uhana. Neither are open. The Uhana is closed for remodeling. The Pie-o-neer is only open Friday through Monday. Bummer. Second, the man who oversees the hiker hostel in town called the Toaster House is sick. This is where I was going to spend the rest of today and tonight, turning today into a 7 mile nero. I don’t want to get exposed to anything that might get me sick and cause me to spend time off the trail. There goes my nero. No pie. No rest day.
We packed up and walked back to the road from our stealth camp site and began the 6 or 7 mile hike into town. It was another perfect day, blue sky, sun and cold, around 35ish.
As we entered town it was very apparent this was an economically depressed community. Of the 50 or so buildings that comprise the town most were late model mobile homes in various states of disrepair. Each sat on what appeared to be an acre lot, most filled with junk. Walking down Pie Street we saw a wood frame house on the left. We guessed this was toaster house. As we got closer we saw we didn’t need to guess. There were toasters all over the picket fence bordering the street.
I entered the yard cautiously, on the lookout for the manager who was reportedly sick. Another hiker was outside putting together his pack, preparing to leave. He called me over. He felt obligated to let us know the manager was sick so we could act appropriately. He introduced himself as Hornsby.
We stepped into the house briefly to find our resupply boxes, then found a spot in the yard to sort our food. There was a rusty old kitchen cook stove that served as my table. Dallas found a chair and sorted hers on the ground.
As you can see from the screenshot of the map, there are multiple ways to get to Grants (at the top circled on green) from Pie Town ( at the bottom circled in purple) The red line is the true CDT. The brown and blue are alternate routes. After looking at available water resources we decided to do red-brown-red. It had the best available water and at reasonable spacing. But, this shortened the distance from about 106 miles to 75 miles-cutting off about a day and a half. As we sorted our food we set aside food we didn’t need to carry and when done placed it in the hikers box in the kitchen of the house.
Dallas was anxious to get on the road but I had things I needed to tend to now that I had good phone signal and a post office.
Getting your pack weight down is a biggie. I worked at home reducing the size of things, buying new lightweight gear and eliminating unnecessary items, but my pack was still too heavy. While home, I read the weather reports from New Mexico. They showed temps in the low 20s some nights. I decided to switch out my quilt for my 20° sleeping bag and throw in some long underwear bottoms and a long underwear type top, mittens and a stocking hat. This thru my base weight through the roof. Now I had nearly three weeks of hiking in New Mexico under my belt and could see I could get rid of some stuff. My plan is this. Mail these items to the next town, Grants. If I do good without them until I get there, then bump them to the next town, Cuba. If I still don’t need them by that time, I will just bump them home. So, I needed to organize what items I was mailing to myself and get them to the post office in town, about a quarter mile away.
Dallas took off. We agreed to meet at the TLC Ranch 16 miles up the road, the first water available along the trail after Pie Town.
First thing I did when I arrived at Toaster House was find some outside plug-ins and get my battery recharging. I left it plugged in as I headed to the Post Office. Once my box was on its way to Grants, I headed back to the Toaster House. Along the way I called Sally and had a wonderful, long chat. By now it was getting near 11:00am and I needed to get hiking if I was to cover the 16 miles that separated me from the TLC Ranch. I went into the house to fill my water bottle before leaving and found Aaron, King-go and Coney, now named Peppermint. We chatted for 10 minutes or so. When I went to fill my bottle at the sink i saw a half eaten pie on the counter. They said when the pie shop closed down Monday night they brought the pies that didn’t sell over here. FIVE of them! As I stood talking to King-go I sliced off a thin piece of Mango-apple-blueberry pie and ate it from my hand. To die for!! I sliced off another thin piece, then another, then another. By the time I decided I really had to go I’d eaten 1/3 of the pie. There was another pie sitting on the counter, uncut. I cut out the first slice. Raspberry!! I headed out the door, checked my pack and saw my water bottle was missing. Of course, I had taken it inside to fill it, got talking and eating pies and left it on the kitchen table. I topped it off and headed down the road. About 100 yards out I realized I had not taken any photos of the house. Dang it. Oh well, I wasn’t going back. I had 16 miles in front of me, full batteries and strong ATT service. I spent 3.5 miles talking to my good friend and climbing partner Ed Thompson. I listened to my book and watched the scenery go but at 3 miles an hour. I got to the TLC Ranch about 5:10pm. Hornsby was cooking his dinner on the “front porch” of the homestead house.
There was a table and chairs! After days without a chair you really appreciate them! The water jugs were also on the porch. I stopped in dropped my pack, made and drank a liter of Propel, then pulled out my stove and pot and also made dinner. Dallas came in about that time and also made dinner. Aaron soon arrived and joined in.
Belly full of Mtn House and chocolate pudding I set up my tent in the persistent wind and setting sun, visited the composting outhouse and was soon happily horizontal. My non-nero day had come to a close. Instead of 6-8 miles it was 24. All in all - great day!
Entrance to the TLC Ranch
The inside area of the ranch. Abandoned water tanks and such.
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