Pie town!
Oh what a morning. Throughout the night I was continuously dusted with snow, even being under the cover of the shelter. The coyotes kept waking me up with their shenanigans which echoed in the bowl of a valley we all resided in for the night.
With temps dropping to 29, I was quite cold in my quilt and made the decision to get a warmer bag, and mummy style, next chance I got. At one point, I was getting so covered in snow, and was so cold I took my tent out to wrap myself in it. This worked wonderfully and I slept soundly for the rest of the night.
The morning was quite cold, especially after a cold night, I was chilled to the bone. A light dusting of snow remained as the sun rose, and I decided as I “only” had 15 miles into Pietown, that I would have a leisurely morning. Chatted with Lauren a little (always a nice way to wake up) and cooked up three eggs and a half of a potato and onion. I left the rest in ziplocks and wrote a note in the register to please use those first so they wouldn’t go bad.
As the sun poked over, the temperatures didn’t change much. At least not internally. I struggled with the decision to shower. Strip down and freeze for a hot shower only to freeze again when getting dressed? Decided the shower area was enclosed enough that I could steam it enough to quickly dry and change without freezing so took a nice long (maybe 15 mins, nothing too crazy!) Hot shower. Wowzers. Made a difference. Me core was warmed and I was able to get dressed without getting cold, and even out in the cold world I was much warmer than before.
And so I continued onwards along the trail. The dirt road I rolled on was smooth and easy. A couple rolling hills, but nothing drastic. I made it into Pietown in a good time. The Toaster House is another CDT hiker staple. A house covered with (you guessed it) toasters! The fence lined with them made it clear I was in the right spot. I walked in and honestly, was immediately overwhelmed. 25+ hikers sat and stood in every corner of the hostel. The most amount of hikers I’ve seen at once on ANY trail. Mind you, when I did the AT it was February and I was well ahead of the pack, and when I did the PCT it was a decade ago before the “Wild” boom when no one really knew much about it.
Fortunately, I saw a familiar face - Helium! We had started the trail on the same day, and I had consistently been a day or more behind her since then. She’s been cooking. She had been hanging with another hiker, Exxon, and they offered a little slip of floor space in the room they had slept in the night prior as the third person had departed that day.
With stories of even MORE (and rowdy) hikers being around the night prior, I quickly decided to run up to the restaurant to get some grub, WiFi, and start working on trying to find a ride into ABQ to have my weekend with Lauren in Santa Fe.
The little restaurant (and only in Pietown) was quite overwhelmed with people coming and going and requests for pies selling out literally as they were pulled from the oven. I patiently sat there (for a while) as they ran around waiting on the patrons, enjoying sitting down after my 4.5 long days of hiking, and being on WiFi. I had taken a seat near someone who had left shortly before I arrived, so their empty plate was still there. About 20 mins later, one of the waitresses came up to me to ask if I wanted anything else, not realizing that was not my plate and I hadn’t even ordered. While she felt slightly embarrassed, I really didn’t mind one bit. I was enjoying my time there.
After some chatting with locals, two meals (a burger and a turkey club) and a bunch of sodas, I went back to the Toaster House where I enjoyed the company of many fellow hikers, a few beers, and then some rest. Also! A fellow documentary fella (Rad, who did Mile, Mile and a Half, about the PCT) rolled in. He had seen my note about the potato and onion at Davila and had used it up not more than a few hours later. All in all, it was a great day, and the excitement stirred for a great weekend.
