Eeyore and I descended Mangas mountain towards Pie Town. We stopped at the Davilla Ranch where I cooked some potatoes, onions, and eggs for Eeyore, Latecomer, and myself. The Davilla’s weren’t around, but they very generously have set up an area on their ranch with a shower, a bathroom, and a small kitchen complete with a refrigerator stocked with eggs and potatoes and other supplies. The structures are constructed from shipping containers connected together. There is a box left for donations which we used before proceeding on the long road walk into Pie Town.
The walk went on forever through picturesque pinyon and juniper covered hills. The weather deteriorated as the day went on. I was pushing to make it to the Pie-o-Neer Cafe before they closed at 5:00. According to Guthooks they weren’t open the next two days and I really wanted some of their famous pie. I’ve been looking forward to it since the Mexican border.
The wind blew straight at us and eventually lightening flashed and it started hailing, but nothing was going to keep me from the pies. We finally got to town at 5:30 and I made a beeline to the Pie-o-Neer. The sign said Closed, but the door was unlocked so I went in. They told me they were closed but I asked if I could buy a piece and take it with me. The nice lady looked at me (with pity?) and then proceeded to give me all the pies that remained in the case for free. Three big styrofoam boxes worth!
We took the pies to the Toaster House and proceeded to eat them. Cherry, mixed fruit, raspberry, apple, green chili apple. They were good but not as good as Barb’s. The Toaster House is owned by a nice lady named Nita who allows hikers to stay for free. Donations allow her to keep the place supplied with condiments, spices, a refrigerator, a stove, etc. The sink had several hiker boxes where other hikers had left extra food. Hikers help to keep it maintained and picked up (at least while I was there). The house was pretty full due to the bad weather so we had to sleep on the floor in one of the rooms. The toilet plumbing was whack so there were a lot of bad odors in there, but we met many interesting people – Open, Link, Caroline, Brett, Raps and many others. I had met Caroline and Raps way back in Silver City so it was good to see them again. All of it was very fun and everyone was so kind to each other. I like this but I did not sleep well. Too much noise, snoring, etc.