Day 20: Pie Town

Miles Hiked: 14

Total Milage: 316.5

Location: Toaster House, Pie Town

Last night a coyote screamed very loudly and close to our shelter around 3am. It woke all of us up and I had some trouble falling back asleep because it was so unsettling. Eventually I closed me eyes again and woke up around 6am to make some coffee before packing up to walk to Pie Town.

Jenga, 12 Pack, Money, and I all did the 14 mile dirt road walk together. We didn’t stop to break all morning because we were in a hurry to get to town and rest up. My feet were hurting quite a bit by the time we arrived at 11:30 but I knew I would have the remainder of the day to rest!

As soon as we arrived in Pie Town we went to the Toaster House where we spent the night. It’s a free house provided to hikers by a local lady named Nita. It literally has toasters all over the outside of the building ( I have no idea why). I ended up meeting Nita later in the day and she told me that less than 50 people live here. She actually raised her family in the toaster house before moving just down the road.

Other hikers informed us that the one restaurant in town may be running out of pies soon so we walked directly there as fast as we could. When we walked in, I found out there were even more hikers in town than I expected. We sat outside and ordered some lunch. I got a burger to eat there and a burrito to go for dinner. Jenga, 12 Pack and I each got a pie to split as well so we could try to different flavors. Since they didn’t have much left we went with lemon, apple, and New Mexican apple pies. They were very cute 6 inch pies! As we were eating, the restraunt just kept getting busier and busier with travelers on a road trip stopping in to see what Pie Town was all about. It was the busiest place I’d been since we started. I just found it comical since Pie Town doesn’t even have a gas station. There is one restaurant, and RV Park, a Post Office, and it’s 50 residents and that’s it. When we went to leave we found out that a family who was traveling through and learned about hikers doing the CDT for the first time ended up paying for our me which was incredibly generous!

After Lunch we went back to the Toaster House. I got my package of food I sent to myself and put together my food bag for the next section. I hung out with the other hikers for the rest of the day. A couple who just finished the Great Enchantment Trail ( approx 700 miles from AZ to NM) stopped by to bring us beer. They had hiked the CDT in the past and stayed at the toaster house as well. It was so cool to meet people who just finished a very unique trail.

Tomorrow we are hiking out on the official CDT route which seems to be the unpopular choice. We will hike 5 days on the Chain Of Craters route where we will get to see some old lava flows in El Mapis. The family we met at the hot springs has been in contact with us to help support us with water through the very dry section. We will be meeting up with them around noon on our second day. I’m so excited! Almost all of the other hikers are doing a shorter 3 day route that is mostly a road walk the entire time.

Happy Trails!

-Early Bird