Day 17
Day miles: 0
Trip miles: 317
Finally today the only two cafes in Pie Town were open! I woke up at 6am, had some coffee and relaxed outside for a bit. Most of us showed up at the Ohana cafe right at 9 when it was supposed to open. The owner, Brad, showed up and told us they were opening at 10. We drank some coffee while we waited.
Brad and his wife used to own a cafe across the street. I first met them in 2019 and spent quite a bit of time at their old joint. In 2020 they moved to the Ohana, which used to have a different name and different owners. It was good to see the proprietors again.
I ate a breakfast burrito and had a slice of mixed berry pie. The food was good, but if I’m honest, it wasn’t as good as I remember it being in 2019, especially the pie. Nevertheless, things change all the time, so if you head to Pie Town I encourage you to try both of the restaurants and form your own opinions. Both are run by wonderful people, so you’ll make friends either way.
After breakfast myself and a few others went down the street to the Pie-O-Neer restaurant. I ordered a mini coconut cream pie and it was divine! In 2019, I ate pie at the Pie-O-Neer and wasn’t that impressed. Like I said, things change! I think I will eat breakfast at the Pie-O-Neer tomorrow.
Nita showed up at the restaurant and said they were about to have live music. So, we ended up staying there for a while longer and listening to a two-person folk duo. It was two women who were in a band in college together. One was from upstate New York and now lives in Pie Town. The other lives in Austin, Texas. They were great and it was a restaurant front porch affair. I was also able to finally upload some of my journal entries on the cafe’s Wi-Fi.
When they were done, Nita drove us about 40 minutes west to the little town of Quemado. She wanted to eat a Friday fried catfish dinner they had. Some ate that, but myself and others went down the street to get some southwest food. I ate a quesadilla. When in Rome….
We also stopped at a small grocery, and I got a few munchies, some more ibuprofen, and actually found moleskin, which was fantastic! I’m now in good shape supply-wise to get to Grants.
This is somewhat disgusting, but if you’re reading this then I trust you find the details of this journey somewhat interesting. I had to wash my shoe inserts because they had crusted dirt and blister discharge caked to them. When the blisters on the bottoms of my feet burst in my socks, the discharge fluid oozed and oozed for days and mixed with the dirt and dust. This paste was disgustingly sticky and problematic, because it acted as an abrasion layer in itself. My blisters were creating an area that aggravated my blisters. That’s why my days off in Pie Town have been so important. I have been drying out hose blisters and letting them heal so thatI can continue on.
On that note, I plan to zero one more day in Pie Town tomorrow, then hike out the next morning (the Sunday before Memorial Day). I think my feet will be ready to push north by then.
I played a little guitar at the Toaster House tonight. Somebody’s old axe was lying around. Towely played as well (he and Draggin’ showed up today). A few cyclists riding the Great Divide trail showed up too. One of them was from Amsterdam, and it turned out that we have a mutual acquaintance in Amsterdam named Frank. If you read my AT trail journal, you may remember that I met Frank in Maine and we summited Katahdin together. It really is a small world! We took a picture together to send to Frank.
Now that our gang is back together, we are formulating a plan to hike around the fire closures between Grants and Cuba, and Cuba and Chama. That is definitely going to be an adventure!
I am trying to decide if I will hike the regular CDT to see the chain of craters (volcanic formations), or take the same Cebolla alternate I took in 2019. I really want to do the former, but it is a bit longer route with long water carries. I will have to see how my feet do heading out of Pie Town and make a judgment call when I get to the trail junctions.
I’m so glad my feet are healing up, and grateful to be around a good group of people. Obviously Pie access is very high on my gratitude list now that the cafes are open. Tomorrow will be a fun day, but then I need to get out of this town. It’s time to move north.
Day 18
Day miles: 0
Trip miles: 317
A nearby dog barked from 9pm last night to 6:30 or 7am this morning, almost without pause. It stopped for an hour or so sometime in the wee hours of the morning, but otherwise it was constant. I have never heard a dog maintain barking for that long! Needless to say, there were some sleepy eyes at the Toaster House this morning.
I woke up about 6:45 after tossing and turning and went downstairs to have a coffee. I spent the morning chatting with the others about this and that. GiGi made us food again, so I had a breakfast burrito and then around 10:30 or 11 went to the Pie-O-Neer for pie.
I ordered a piece of blackberry buttermilk pie. It was delicious. Myself, Stormy, Towely, and a guy from Michigan named Bearded Brother sat and told trail stories. Towely had the GPS tracks for our alternate route we would take around the fire closures north of Grants, so he used the Wi-Fi there to send them to Stormy and me. We now all have the route in our Gaia GPS app. This route will allow us to respect the fire closures but connect our footsteps from Grants to Cuba. I think it will be an interesting adventure.
We talked about the hiking route choices to get to Grants. My plan is to see how my feet feel and make a judgment call when I get to the turnoff for the first alternate. I really want to take the official route, known as the chain of craters. It goes through a unique lava flow area, but dependable water sources are 23+ miles apart in places. Carrying water means more weight on my feet. So, I’ll just have to see how I’m feeling and make the right choice. If I take the chain of craters route, it’s 110 miles to Grants; otherwise, it’s 75, so the difference is material.
I’m excited to get moving again!
After eating pie, I ended up ordering a breakfast sandwich, which was delightful. We walked down to Ohana cafe and listened to the same musicians who played at the Pie-O-Neer yesterday. After that, I ordered a slice of peanut butter pie to go and we went back to the Toaster House.
We helped break down and bundle up a bunch of cardboard boxes. I strummed the guitar a bit, ate some salt and vinegar Pringles, and elevated my feet for a while.
When time starts to pass slowly like this, I get antsy. I know the rest is good for me, but it is hard. I like to go go go, as anyone who has read about my previous expeditions probably already knows. It’s a good lesson in patience for me.
As fate would have it, it was a fun day to be in Pie Town. I took a short nap, got my gear together, and chatted with some hikers and bikers. Then, the musicians came by the Toaster House to chat with us and play music. It ended up being a long jam session that was really fun.
One hiker, Bearded Brother, whipped out a flute that he had carved himself out of wood. He played it expertly – it was very impressive. I mean, the guy carved his own musical instrument, plays it like a pro and carries it on trail. Wow!
Then, GiGi (the trail angel staying at the Toaster House and cooking) brings out her own hand-carved wooden flute! Two flutes, one night! Bearded Brother proceeded to play hers as well. It was a fun evening that highlighted the warmth of a small town community. We had locals and visitors alike just having fun and singing along to the likes of Johnny Cash, John Prime, and other greats.
We feasted on GiGi’s stew and some stuffed bell peppers. I confess that I got hungry and ate my pie while listening to the music. That peanut butter pie was incredible! I wish I had another piece as I type this.
It was a really great day in Pie Town, but tomorrow it’s time to leave. Sometimes Pie Town feels a bit like a vortex. You have to know when it’s time to depart or you might just find yourself there forever. I’ll head north to Grants tomorrow to keep the journey going. My blisters are healing and drying out. It’s time to focus back on what I started, putting one foot in front of the other to get closer to Canada.
Day 19 – The Dirty Thirty
Day miles: 30.5
Trip miles: 347.5
*Author’s note: I have been organizing my writing by days to make it easier for you to pick up and follow along. I realized I was missing adding “clever” titles to my entries, and that I could still do that. So, from here out I will add a title to each day, for self amusement purposes.*
I definitely didn’t start the day intending to walk 30 miles, but it happened. It just goes to show how a series of sub-optimal decisions can result in unintended consequences. Let me start back at the beginning.
I had resolved to leave today, so I woke up early to pack my bag and get ready. It’s always a little strange getting back out on the trail after a few days. I felt rusty just packing my bag up.
Time passes differently on a journey of this magnitude. Each individual day feels like a week. So three days of rest feels like a lifetime, though obviously it is not.
I packed my bag outside on the Toaster House porch so as not to wake others. Storm Trooper, surprisingly, was awake and getting ready to march on as well.
I didn’t need to leave this early. I was going to hike about 23 miles, just enough to get to the last water source before entering the chain of craters loop. The chain of craters is on the main CDT route and loops around lava fields and, presumably, volcanic craters. I only hiked a small piece of this route in 2019 to bridge two other alternates together – the Cebolla and Bonita-Zuni.
I wanted to see the full chain of craters route just to see something new. I decided I would see how my feet felt hiking out of Pie Town. In approximately 25 miles I would decide if my feet were up for the chain of craters. That route was 35 miles longer than my alternative, taking the Cebolla alternate. More relevant, the chain of craters required carrying water for possibly 25-26 miles in spots. It was the weight of the water carries that I worried would be too much for my fresh feet.
Sub-optimal decision number one was leaving before 9am. Why, you may wonder? Well, Ohana Cafe opens at 9am, and hikers who are hiking out of town get a free piece of pie there. In my eagerness to get started, I left knowing I would not get that free pie slice.
At that point, Pie Town had started to feel like a vortex. I felt like if I didn’t get up and going I might just get stuck there. So I took off, pie-less.
The owners of the Ohana Cafe stopped when they saw me walking down the road on their way to work. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t drop by again, but mostly just because I like them. They get it. They wished me well and I trudged on.
I passed by TLC Ranch. They take in hikers and you can camp there if you like. I stayed and cooked dinner with the family there in 2019. Sub-optimal decision number two was not camping at TLC Ranch. At that point, I was 16 miles in. I could have stopped there, but my feet were getting tender and I was still thinking I might hike the chain of craters route. So, instead of having a short day, I pushed on to make the water source at 23 miles.
After walking a while more, a Subaru Outback pulled up and two college-aged gents hopped out and asked if I wanted an apple or some cuties (small oranges). I took a cutie and chatted with them. The fruit squished delicious juice in my mouth! Fruit makes for great trail magic.
The two guys were from Durango. They had driven down to rock climb something called the Enchanted Towers. I had no idea what or where that was, but I was very appreciative that they stopped to check on me.
When I reached the cattle trough, the wind had picked up mightily. All of my tree cover was gone. It was tumbleweeds, dust, sand, and clumps of grass as far as the eye could see. Two donkeys stared at me while I filtered water. They knew who the real ass was. At that point, I knew I would have to keep hiking until I could find shelter from the wind.
I climbed up a small aluminum ladder to get water from the tank. It was a solar pump, so water was gushing out of the pipe at the top and the tank was full. I always get the non-stagnant water right from the pipe if I can.
The wind was so strong it was creating waves of water that sloshed over the sides of the tank in sets. The minute I peeked over the edge of the tank I saw a wave coming and panicked. I grabbed the pipe, but it moved with me, and down I went. I sort of half fell, half jumped off the four foot ladder. Fortunately, I did not injure myself. The donkeys sneered and stared.
I climbed back up and let the waves slosh into me while I gathered water. I walked twenty feet away to filter it, and still the spray from the tank pounded me. The wind was really kicking. I pressed on, leaving the donkeys to recount my tale.
I hadn’t expected to make it to the Cebolla alternate cutoff, because I was silly enough to think that I would find camping cover not too far from the cow trough (troughs are usually out in the open without tree cover). As I reached the decision point at the turn off for the alternate, the wind whipped sand against my legs. It stung very similarly to being at the beach on a super windy day. It’s just enough bite to make you pack up the beach chairs in a hurry and go. Two roads diverged in a [treeless plain], and sorry I could not travel [the one I wanted] and be one traveler, long I stood.
At this point, the consequence of my decisions was clear. Though it would be my road less traveled, I knew I shouldn’t take the chain of craters route. Sorry Robert Frost. (Though, in a metaphorical sense, my road less traveled was really just the more practical path, since I had been making bad decisions all day). I would have to hike quite a few mire miles to get to tree cover, and I had no idea where that began. I knew the lava rock would be rough on my feet, and that the water carries would be long. At this point, I started what would be a series of smart decisions.
I was bummed about the chain of craters, but knew I would find trees to break up the wind on the Cebolla. I turned down the sandy road into the canyon and walked as the wind sand blasted my legs. My feet hurt and I didn’t understand why. I knew I was going to end up walking 30 miles and was upset with myself for falling into that trap.
Acceptance comes quickly on trail. It is better to accept, move on, and stay in a good head space than to let the mental game falter, so I told myself I was lucky that it wasn’t snowing there like it did in 2019. At this point in 2019, I was wearing dish gloves and all my layers and pitched my tent at 3pm to get out of the snow!
I found tree cover and a nice place to camp. The wind died down by 9pm, as it tends to at night. I examined my feet. I had a new blister, and one of my heels was a little agitated. All in all, though, they were still in decent shape.
I examined my insoles. Ever since Pie Town I’d had a sneaking suspicion that my Currex insoles were part of the problem. They were really worn down, but more than that I felt like the woven material used for the base was trapping small amounts of grit in it. I reasoned that it was possible this was just rubbing my feet all day. I had a potential solution though.
Back in Pie Town, when this suspicion arose, I took note of the wall on the front porch. It is decorated with the old shoes of hikers past, hanging on the wall. I was smart to think that my inserts could be the problem, so I searched for a size 10.5 pair of Altras. Luckily, I found one with practically new inserts. I pulled the inserts out of the old shoes and tucked them in my pack. I assume someone had new shoes and inserts mailed to pie town, and put the new factory inserts in the old shoes. I can only otherwise explain this with the phrase “the trail provides.”
Fast forward to tonight. I sat there in my tent and decided it was time. I yanked out my insoles and put the factory Altra inserts in. The factory inserts were smooth and would not harbor grit, though of course grit would still get in my shoes. I had a new pair of gaiters waiting for me in Grants, which would help. I had no idea if the factory inserts would help or hurt, but I had to try something.
I went to bed hopeful. My silent wishes dissipated with the calming breeze and washed over the canyon in the softly approaching moonlight. The certainty of morning lingered beneath the stars patiently waiting its turn.
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