From Pie Town to Grants-Bad Country

Day 1

Miles walked: 16.76 Originally planned: 0

Elevation Gain: 648 feet Elevation Decline: 802 feet

Hours walked: 5 hours 40 min

Weather: 91 F Hot, bright sun, some wind that felt like cooking in a convection oven

Our morning in Pie Town was lovely. We enjoyed vegetable omelettes topped with red chili and French fries for breakfast at The Gathering Place. We both worked for a few hours and charged all our electronic devices.

For lunch, Weasel enjoyed a green chile and cheddar cheese burger. I had green chile stew with cornbread. We rounded out our meals with a 6-inch apple pie with green chile and pine nuts, and a 6-inch strawberry rhubarb pie. You better believe we finished all that food.

Along the rough road down from Pie Town is one of the original Wells Fargo Post Office buildings. It was an interesting piece of history, left there. I’m sure that building has many stories to tell.

We continued down the dirt road to the TLC Ranch, where fresh refrigerated apples and delicious water were available. We asked Nigel if he wouldn’t mind if his route name was Pudding and he immediately adopted the name when his parents wrote the definitive book on English puddings. Weasel shared some of his Fable Fish with Nigel and Jimmy and they both loved it.

The Ranch was a comfortable place to spend the night and enjoy all the farm animals. The cows began mooing just before dusk and Weasel jokingly responded to them from the tent. Soon all the other campers were mooing from their tents as well. It was a fun way to say goodnight.

People found: Nigel, Jimmy, Joker, Captain, Zookeeper, Sherpa and Doolittle.

Day 2

Miles Traveled: 32.35 Originally Planned: 22.2

Elevation Gain: 1060 feet Elevation Decline: 1386 feet

Walking hours: 11 hours 48 min

Weather: 88 F Hot, relentless sun. A bluebird day

We woke up at TLC Ranch to a duet between a rooster and a turkey. It was a nice way to start the day. We had a good breakfast and special coffees that Sherpa gave us. You’re right, Death Wish coffee has nice, robust flavors.

We start the day with an easy walk along a hard, compact trail. We met Pudding and Jimmy at a water tower. We passed Jimmy sitting on the side of the road making coffee. We asked him if he would like the name of his route to be Coffee Break. We’ll see what you think about it.

The cicadas are emerging and the birds and squirrels are feasting. We saw a herd of healthy looking elk grazing in a field. We passed a cool old cabin.

The terrain was a mix of hard-packed dirt road, deep sand singletrack, and 5 miles of asphalt divided highway. Today we walked through the Cebolla Wilderness, it has some nice and powerful climbs and landscapes. It was a new wild area for us, so it’s always exciting.

We had a dilemma during the last kilometers of the day. Do we enter the scenic Zuni Canyon for an additional 11 miles and more water scarcity or continue down the paved road walking directly toward El Malpais National Monument?

We chose to hike an additional 4 miles on top of the 27 we had just completed to El Malpais with a full 9 liters to dry out the camp. We were here before a few years ago in our camper van and also when we were moving. We’ve already hiked the El Malpais lava flow section, so we felt confident that we didn’t need to do that section again. We headed to the picnic area with tired feet and spent about another hour in the heat.

We arrived at the picnic area exhausted and exhausted, but to our dismay there was a strict restriction of no overnight camping. We were extremely upset for about 20 minutes and then found a small gate leading back into the wilderness area. We walked through the gate, walked another half mile, and broke camp just at dusk. We had a hasty dinner and collapsed in our tent. We plan to walk directly to Grants tomorrow on the paved road. There is a reliable water spigot at the ranger station 13 miles up the road that we have used before. Walking on the highway for 47 kilometers tomorrow will get us two days ahead of schedule. I certainly need a zero day. My mood was a little irritable after the 27th microphone today.

Animals: crows, elk

Physical: We both have some intermittent shooting pains in our toes, mostly at night. We have affectionately called them lightning fingers.

People found: Jimmy, Nigel, Sherpa, Dolittkle

Day 3

Miles driven: 29 Originally planned: 22.2

Elevation Gain: 284 feet Elevation Decline: 695 feet

Hours between camps: 9 hours 45 min

Weather: 82 F Sunny, windy

It was nice to remember that just a few years ago we were watching in disbelief some brave backpackers walking this same path and thinking that maybe one day it will be us. Well, here we are, and now I seem to remember his expressions of discontent and now I know why. Today we had a brutal 29 mile hike on a paved divided highway.

We left the Cebolla Wilderness early and started down the trail of pain, stopping at mile 7 for a quick snack and noticing a 3 gallon water tank. We were fine at this point, but we made sure to update the Far out app.

We saw a nice herd of mule deer right at the Acoma Preserve sign. Otherwise just a bunch of cows and crows. We met a naturalist at the El Malpais ranger station who showed us some wonderful game camera footage of the healthy Mexican wolf population in the Cebolla Wilderness, where we hiked and slept last night.

Continuing down the path of pain while being very unhappy, Amanda from the local archery store stopped by and gave us some delicious pink apples. We thanked him profusely and ate them before he could get back on the road. Trail Magic happened at the perfect time and I was rejuvenated for the next 4 miles.

We stopped at a truck stop on I-40 and drank some Gatorades. I looked at the label, 48 grams of sugar! That should cover the energy needs of another 3 or 4 miles.

We continued along the paved road for another 7 kilometers and saw the insides of Grants. The sewage lagoon, many junkyards and some old burned-out motels on Route 66. It wasn’t so flattering for a tourist route, but it’s reality.

We finally arrived at the Southwest Route 66 motel and the owner apologized profusely. The city’s water main is broken and is currently under repair. No running water until the plumbing is fixed. Since we were exhausted and in no condition to walk another 5-10 miles to the motels along the I-40 chain, we said okay and relaxed for a few hours. Hot showers can wait a little longer. Our original plan allowed us to arrive two days later.

We ordered some tacos at the door and settled in for the night. We all finished except 4!

I visited a motel resident and he gave us two popsicles. So it’s a miracle that there are two magical events on the trail today.

Physical Complaints: Fred is purple and now triples his size due to all the extra water weight. I got 5 new blisters on my heel and forefoot from the paved road. Tomorrow, I hope to think that this great effort to achieve two zero days will be worth it tonight.

No other hikers were found today.

Day zero in subsidies

Weasel performed emergency surgery on his hip belt to make a donut for Fred. Hopefully that will reduce the pressure on Fred and prevent further friction and growth.

I developed a neurological condition on the outside of my right thigh called meralgia paresthetica from tightening my hip belt too much while carrying so much water. The skin on the outside of my right thigh feels a little weird and numb. It should go away after a few months of not wearing the belt as tight.

We had breakfast at a New Mexico institution, Blake’s Lotta Burger. Hits the nail on the head. Today is relaxation, walking little and eating a lot.

People Found: Peach Pit at the post office and Odell, a Grants local, drove us from the post office back to our motel. He noticed that we were carrying heavy boxes and was kind to help us.

Next post is Cuba, NM in about 5 days.