We rode for 85 miles into Pie Town, New Mexico today. I started out alone this morning, but soon was distracted by a beautiful outcrop with volcanic ash preserved in it. The outcrop also had a lizard on it which I had to chase after. All in all, Zach caught up to me and we rode, continuously climbing and watching the landscape shift from desert shrub covered valleys and mountains into pine forests. We hit 8,000 feet in elevation and crossed the Continental Divide, which for me is probably the most significant accomplishment of the trip. Every drop of water that falls east of this divide flows to the Gulf or Atlantic Ocean, and every drop that falls West of this divide flows to the Pacific. Like us.
We stayed at the "Toaster House" in Pie Town, population 40. The house is basically a hostel for CDT thru-hikers or bikers, taken care of by Nita, famous for being the most loved person along the CDT.
We had dinner at the community center where a local showed us a rattler that he had killed earlier that day. He planned to skin it, so it was pretty cool see. Later on, we sat on the old car seats laid out on the wooden back porch of the house and shared our highs and lows of the week underneath the million stars in the sky.
I decided to sleep outside, so I chose a nice spot in the lot next to the house under a tree and passed out. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked up to behold that there were almost no dark spaces between the stars in the sky - there were just so many visible. I woke up with the sun rising, painting the sky oranges that matched the rocky outcrops on the mountains.
We stayed at the "Toaster House" in Pie Town, population 40. The house is basically a hostel for CDT thru-hikers or bikers, taken care of by Nita, famous for being the most loved person along the CDT.
We had dinner at the community center where a local showed us a rattler that he had killed earlier that day. He planned to skin it, so it was pretty cool see. Later on, we sat on the old car seats laid out on the wooden back porch of the house and shared our highs and lows of the week underneath the million stars in the sky.
I decided to sleep outside, so I chose a nice spot in the lot next to the house under a tree and passed out. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked up to behold that there were almost no dark spaces between the stars in the sky - there were just so many visible. I woke up with the sun rising, painting the sky oranges that matched the rocky outcrops on the mountains.
The Toaster House!
Springs blending in with the toasters at the Toaster House
