We do a lot of crazy things out here with a little bit of incentive. My incentive this morning was pie. When I woke at 4:30 to answer nature’s call, I figured I should get packed up and start hiking….the cafes in Pie Town have early hours, 3 or 4pm I had heard…so if I had any hope of eating pie today, I needed to start hiking early. Lets go!

I started with coffee in hand and my headlamp on…it was a road walk, so I knew I could make my way until sunrise. Yes I am crazy. And I flew. I had 10 miles by 9am, and took a short break and kept hiking. Maybe to you hiking that many miles for Pie sounds a bit loco, but after a few weeks of hiking big miles, little things like food take on an incredible importance, and I don’t even have my hiker hunger yet! It’s also interesting to push yourself a little bit to see what you can do.

The last 10 miles were uncomfortable. I put on music to take my mind off the pounding in my feet. Now there is acceptable pain, and dangerous pain. I knew the fatigue in my legs and the pounding in my feet hurt, but wasn’t doing me any real damage, so I kept hiking. Blisters can heal, tired legs can rest…although after days like this you often need a day off to recover, but I can’t pick up my resupply box until Monday (today is Saturday) so I would have a day off anyway. So I keep hiking.

About 2pm I pull into Nita’s Toster House…a hostel so called for the numerous toasters that decorate the exterior. Why? Not sure, but I know it is a haven for hikers and cyclists that pass through this lonely corner of New Mexico. There isn’t anything in Pie Town except for a few cafes that serve pie and a few other food items, a small post office, and the hostel. You have to send a resupply box here since there is no store, and the hostel becomes an eclectic meeting ground of travelers.

I claimed a bed upstairs in the loft and limped down to the Pie-O-Neer. I ordered the mexican apple pie with chilis in the pie, yum! and met Andy, Lion King and Bird Dog. We exchanged stories and then I went back to the toaster house to shower (next door at the RV park…yes it was delicious, but since there was no shampoo I used dish soap, that works pretty well!)

There is limited to no phone reception here, which makes a lot of us techno-folks a lot more present…and the rest of the afteroon/evening I caught up with new hikers Grits, Boston Bones, Andy & Axyl.

After a few beers and scrounging in the hikerbox and the fridge/freezer, which is stocked for hikers, I’m ready to turn in. The new blisters I earned today need to heal and I need to sleep.