Pie Town: Day 9

Day 9 - 5/24/08
Start - hwy 12

End - Pie Town, NM

Mileage - 40

We attempted to leave rather early this morning and somewhat succeeded by rolling out around 8:30am. We started the day with a nice 1200 foot climb into the Mangas Mountains - luckily it was spread out over about 10 miles, but there were still some rather hard spots, especially b/c the ground was still drying from snow the night before. It made it feel like an extra 30 lbs was added to my bike. But we persevered and made it over the top. Then the disaster muck hit again. On the beginning of the descent it started to accumulate on my rear wheel until it finally locked up, gotta love this sticky stuff huh? Well after taking a little breather to regain composure before fighting with the mud. When mud and Stewie collide, it's not really known who is going to win, and that makes me a little scared. But in this instant, Stewie pulled out on top and we rolled on after an hour or so. With the discombobblement of the mud fight, we got messed up on our time perception and ended up missing a turn. So we ended up a little bit down from Pie Town on hwy 60, but no worries-an extra 10 miles on the road was in store before pie! So we hit Pie Town and went straight to the Pie-O-Neer- supposedly THE spot to go in Pie Town. It is said to be owned by Don and Nita- the trail angels of Pie Town that help out CDT hikers and bikers. We arrived in Pie-O-Neer and Kathy greeted us- let me tell you something about Kathy- she is a very special person. The amount of energy present in this amazing lady is astounding. She welcomed us with arms open, made us sit down, and then, made us eat pie. What else could one ask for. Mark and I both went for the peach pie a la mode. Interesting because we were talking at lunch about how it seems that peach pie has become somewhat obsolete due to the birth of peach cobbler. Maybe it's just because Mark and I are true southerners and peach cobbler seems to be prevalent there. But, moving on- the pie was spectaular, as this could only be expected in a place known as Pie Town. It's hard to describe how exquisitely perfect the crust was prepared. The flake, yet creamy natu! re was just about perfect. It is true that the crust does make the pie- but even more than the crust, the peach filling also hit the spot. Then add the vanilla ice cream and you have created a moment of bliss that endures for a century or two. Okay, maybe only for a few minutes. Regardless, it was an experience I would gladly repeat. We also found out that the trail angel's house- known as the Toaster House was available to stay at, so we stayed the night. This house is owned by Don and Nita and is an incredible piece of architecture. The wood makes it feel super warm and homey- it is definitely a hiker/biker haven, complete with shower, laundry, hiker box....heaven. Don and Nita host hikers/bikers and help them out with their goals of eating, resting, cleaning, organizing, and rejuvenating. We kicked up the jams with a system that resonates throughout the house- first we started with the Beatlets, then moved onto Dylan (Bob style), and then went a little bit more modern with Tracy Chapman. Everything in my life acheived a state of cleanliness that I thought was rather impossible- my body, my bike, my clothes- everything. It was incredible. The super relaxing night was consummated by a few hours of reading. Couldn't ask for much more in this little life of mine.
Stewie checking out.