Eeyore and I got up early and went to the Gathering Place restaurant – the only restaurant in Pie Town open on Wednesday.  While we were there several other hikers arrived and joined us. Some of the local ranchers warned us about the mud on the road out of town. This road is a very long dirt road that traverses the rolling hills on the way to Grants. When it rains a lot (as it has been) the road turns to very deep and goopy mud. The ranchers said they gave rides to several hikers a few days ago who became exhausted trying to get through it. I was a little skeptical and wondered if they were exaggerating.

We finished our delicious breakfast, went back to the Toaster House, packed up and left.  Many people stayed behind in the Toaster House because they were concerned about the mud and ongoing rain. The mud is very sticky and cakes up on the bottom of your shoes until you are dragging several extra pounds with every step. It is also extremely slippery making it difficult to keep your balance. As we walked/slipped along the road I kept looking at some of the older tracks in the mud. At some point in the last few days it must have rained a lot here because the footsteps and associated skids were embedded in the mud several inches deep. Fortunately it wasn’t that bad for us, and soon the road climbed higher and started to dry out a little.

During the walk I started to wish for some time alone. Since the hike began at the Mexican border I’ve been with someone and it seems like every decision needs to be a compromise. Where to camp, how many miles to do each day, when to have lunch, and so on. I started to think about how liberating it would be to just do what I want when I want. I tried to think of a way to tell Eeyore this without making him feel bad, but I just couldn’t come up with anything clever and I just blurted it out. I know I made him feel bad and I’ve always regretted it. Anyway, after today we are going to go our separate ways for a bit.

As we were walking along the road a truck slowed down and the passenger lady invited us for dinner at the TLC ranch if we get that far. We said we would try and they drove off.

We finally arrived at the TLC ranch house, which is a large single room warehouse type building where the family lives.  There are about 15 or so hikers here including Open, Melissa, Grasshopper and his crew, Smackdown and DoubleDown, and Brett. We helped to make an awesome dinner of homemade french fries, chili, and hotdogs.  It was delicious and everyone got along well.  Very fun.  We helped clean everything up and helped Larry (the rancher) hook up his trailer so he could get hay tomorrow.

I’m in my tent on their property.  Eeyore is here too but not right next to me. I think he is avoiding me. <sigh>