Day 14
Day miles: 28.7
Trip miles: 293.3
It was another chilly morning, but it got me going quickly. I walked a “bonus” 0.6 miles by missing a cairn that marked a trail turnoff. As a reminder, my daily mileage and total trip mileage do not include any extra miles due to missteps, town walking, or otherwise getting momentarily lost. I’m also doing some filming, so sometimes walk past my camera to take a shot, then back again to retrieve it. I’m walking a lot!
I had a good signal once I got back on the official route, which follows a ridge line. It was fun being consistently above 8000 feet. Eventually, I dipped back down into the valley that New Mexico Highway 12 runs through. I stopped bat a water source called Aragon Well. Stormy was there taking a break.
Aragon Well was a well-fed tank with relatively clear water. The bottom of the tank was covered with bright green algae, so the water appeared to be deliciously green, even though it was not. When I stopped there in 2019, it was cold and rainy! What a different experience this year has been so far….
Draggin’ showed up and then headed to the road. He was hitching into the town of Reserve. Stormy and I split ways. He took the official route and I took the Davila Ranch alternate. I chose this simply because it was something new – I hiked the official route last time.
The Davila Ranch alternate is 10 miles shorter than the other route, but there was a long stretch of very rocky, hard old forest road that just punished my feet. There was also a long, albeit gradual, climb along the way. The route was otherwise pleasant enough, on dirt roads that carved through pine forest.
It was a tough 28 miles and I finally just camped a short way off the road. I knew the official route would have been easier in my feet, but it was cool to see something new.
As I sat in my tent finishing my dinner, an elk bugled very close to my tent. I made some noise to make my presence known. It bugled again, and then again, and again and again. I banged on my cook pot with my aluminum spoon repeatedly. It bugled again, this time very close. Apparently I had set up camp at the equivalent of Elk Lover’s Point. This guy was just screaming for a date. If you have never heard and elk bugle, google that on YouTube and have a listen. It is like a weird, higher pitched scream. It isn’t a shriek like a bobcat (listen to that too), but it kind of sounds like a shortened donkey cry with more high -pitched power behind it. It’s something else.
I think it bugled near me for three or four hours. I fell asleep and woke up with my headlamp still on, only to hear it bugle again. I don’t know if he got lucky, but he definitely out in the effort. I went back to sleep knowing that tomorrow I would be in Pie Town and could rest my feet.
Day 15
Day miles: 23.7
Trip miles: 317
Bugle Boy the Elk was gone when I awoke. Perhaps he succeeded in gathering a new generation. If so, we can only surmise that one of the millions of algorithms in his surviving genetic code is “NEEDS MORE BUGLING.” Great….
I set about my morning hobble. When my feet are sore, that first mile is a doozy. It was cold, but it felt good. I listened to a podcast about a serial killer named Joe Rifkin. I like true crime podcasts, as does my wife, and she is much better at finding the good ones than I am. This particular podcast was called “Morbid,” and rightfully so. Joel Rifkin was an utter monster, and for no particular reason. But anyway, I digress. Some people might be bothered by listening to tales of evil murderers while hiking alone in the middle of nowhere. Not me! I’m a data and statistics guy, so I know I’m much more likely to just trip and fracture my ankle, or get my eardrums bugled out by an ambitious elk.
As I walked along I saw a hiker still lying on his mat, cowboy camping. He was an older-than-me guy called Marathon John from Miami Beach. He said his water bladder had broken, though later I would learn that it was just his own “user error@ somehow. He shook his other Sawyer water bladder to show me that it had frozen overnight! I don’t think it got below freezing where I camped, though I was at a higher elevation. Sometimes those tiny troughs and low points get much colder.
Marathon John then launched into asking how I was going to deal with fire closures, saying he was going to flip to Canada. I just said I would “find a way” and hiked on. I knew I was getting sucked into a conversation vortex with that topic and I wanted to keep moving. It was cold and I had fresh ibuprofen pumping into my feet. So I hiked on.
I stopped briefly to check out the Davila Ranch test facility. It’s one of the main reasons people like the Davila alternate. It’s a donation-based shelter on the Davila ranch property with water, a three-sided shelter with dirt floor, a fridge with pod to cook and some gas burners and kitchen supplies, and a washer and dryer. I was tempted to stay and do laundry, but I wanted my socks to be really clean leaving Pie Town given my blister situation, so I just looked around, ate one of my bars, signed the log book, and left.
It was a hot afternoon getting into Pie Town. Before I even reached the Davila Ranch, I walked up in two escaped calves siting outside a barbed wire fence, looking pleased with themselves. They were not pleased by me, however, and took off in sheer terror. One calf (we’ll call him George), shot right back through the hole in the fence he had come through. There was a dip where the fence crossed a wash, and it was deep enough for a calf to walk right through. George smartly sidled up to momma cow and looked at me smugly.
The other calf (we’ll call him Lenny), however, did not get as generous a dip from the mental gene pool. Lenny just took off down the road in front of me, past his escape hole, even though he clearly saw George run back in. Oh Lenny….
And thus the great “chase” began. I would walk a ways, Lenny watching me in horror, and then he would take off down the road. I would catch up, and he would take off. Maybe he heard me listening to the Morbid podcast about Joel Rifkin? “Helllllp!” he probably would have said if he could. But he could only run.
This went on for about a mile, despite my trying to coax him back. Then a truck came down the road and Lenny panicked. He took off running, then dashed into the road in front of the truck. They slowed to a crawl as Lenny did the same dance with them. Finally, I saw Lenny peel off to the left. When I finally got there, I saw an opening to another pasture and Lenny was no nowhere in sight. I felt bad for him, but I guess cows are always rising and falling in Mew Mexico. Hopefully Lenny will turn into a riser and make it back to momma, or otherwise grow up quickly. He still had a shot at showing George a thing or two. But hey, we all know how games of mice and men end. We can hope though just by not knowing how the story ends!
I made it to Pie Town a little after 3pm. I was offered a ride, but of course declined as I am striving for continuous footsteps. A trail angel named GiGi was at the Toaster House cooking food.
The Toaster House is where all hikers stay in Pie Town. It’s an old house owned by a lady named Nita who was born in Hawaii, grew up in the California coast, and I believe raised 5 kids in Pie Town. She started collecting toasters and decorating the front railing of the house with them, and the name stuck.
The Toaster House is a total crash pad. It’s donation based so affordable for all, and you basically just walk in and look for a free bed or mattress. It is two stories, has one bathroom with a shower, a kitchen, and a porch with a wall of old hiker shoes hanging up. There are a few musical instruments, and about ten or so feral cats wandering around. There is no Wi-Fi.
If you have AT&T you can get a decent cell signal now. In 2019 one of the locals had just signed a deal with AT&T to put a tower on his ranch and pay him rent for doing so. Sadly for me, the Verizon signal comes and goes. It’s ok though.
I spent the afternoon getting cleaned up. I found an old towel lying around and shamelessly used it. Probably wasn’t clean. The bathroom wasn’t clean, but having stayed here before, I knew this and just appreciated the space. It also wasn’t filthy – it just gets a LOT of hiker traffic, and not everyone is great at cleaning up after themselves, unfortunately.
GiGi was amazing and fed me and the others. No cafes were open – I would have to wait two days for pie. I soaked my feet in Epsom salts. The Toaster House has a big supply closet and hiker box food stash. It really is an amazing gift to have right on trail! I’m so grateful to Nita for continuing to let hikers use it.
I spent the rest of the evening chatting with others, catching up on journals, pre-washing my hiking clothes in the tub (so much dirt came out!),and making a list of things to do on my first zero day tomorrow. It felt good to go to bed clean and know that I could take care of my feet.
Day 16
Day miles: 0
Trip miles: 317
I was asleep by 9 last night and woke up at 6. Someone had brewed coffee – lovely! – and GiGi had set out some croissants. She was working at preparing some ingredients for us to have breakfast burritos. Yum!
I soaked my feet again and poured some hydrogen peroxide on my blisters. I don’t know why one of them smells like dead fish, but it seemed like a good nuclear cleanse was in order. I shoveled down a burrito, gathered my pre-washed laundry and hitched a ride to the general store and laundromat three miles away.
A guy named Larry picked me up after only a few minutes working my corner. Anna, the same lady who worked at the general store (called Top of the World) in 2019 was still there. Stormy was also there doing laundry.
I got my laundry done, ate food, caught up with Storm Trooper, and took care of some errands on their Wi-Fi. I ordered a new air mattress to be sent to the Grants post office (the next town north), as well as a new pair of Dirty Girl gaiters. I had a good run with my old pair, but shredded them in the Gila…. I was going to just do without, but I have been getting so much debris in my shoes, which isn’t helping my blisters. It felt good to get those errands done.
Nita took us on a car tour of Pie Town, including taking us to a huge telescope that is used to observe astronomical things. The telescope is actually one of ten in the US that are called the Very Long Baseline Array. They work in tandem to detect and report on very faint radio signals in space, which inform astronomers and geophysicists about galaxies billions of light years away. So the VLBA is a real thingamajiggy in the science world.
Seeing the VLBA reminded me if a scene from that movie Gilbert Grape. Everyone in the small town gathers to see the airstream trailers drive by once a year and it’s the “big thing.” And there I was, staring at the VLBA in Pie Town. Life can get pretty small sometimes, but it doesn’t mean you’re bot living large.
I peroxided my blisters again and spent time catching up on my journal and elevating my feet. I need to zero here for one or two more days, and then I should be good to hike on. I’m in no hurry – snow still needs to melt in Colorado!
I felt sorry for the feral cats. They were all so cute and looked like litter mates. Only one of them would go near people and let us pet it. That one came up to me and then followed me into the house through the open door. I had seen the cat in the house yesterday. So, I found some long-expired canned tuna in the hiker pantry and set out a plate of it for them. Six or seven of them came around to eat it. It was adorable.
Later that evening, a hiker from Massachusetts named Sugar suggested playing a game. One person would hold a phone up to his head and we had to describe the words that came up without using them until the person holding the phone guessed them. It was basically just a cell phone version of that type of game. It was fun though!
I’ll keep my zero day entries short unless there is something noticeable. No cafes were open today either, but tomorrow I shall feast on pie!
Quick gear update. I mentioned my sleeping pad and gaiters need replacing. One of my tent stays punctured the holder it was tensioned in. It’s no biggy since I still have one good stay at the top of my tent. You may recall that both of them broke on me just before Pie Town last time. It’s a major design flaw in the Plexamid, and for that reason I wouldn’t get that model again (though without its issues, the tent is great!). Also, I just sent the tent to Zpacks to repair the zipper, and it is already breaking again. I had to pay for the repair and shipping too. I have managed to get the zippers all the way to one side of the tent and they are now sealing if I only open them one way. I imagine this will fail at some point. I’m going to try and make it work for the whole trail, even if it breaks permanently.
Otherwise, things are holding up ok! I’m happy that it has yet to rain – it’s nice not getting soaked. Time to go make some food and get to sleep!
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