June 3, 2023
Primordial stink
pie town to grants
The stay at pie town was weirder than expected. We soon learned that the caretaker, Dana was a through hiker. We also learned that through hikers are weird. Luckiy, we were the only ones at the hostel that night other than one other cyclist who showed up later in the afternoon. Line (pronounced lynne) stayed overnight as well. The hostel itself was old and run down. It was someones house and they would host through hikers while they lived there until it turned into a full on hostel. Once the original (and beloved) caretaker/founder died, the heirs to the property were trying to keep it functioning and hired a new temporary caretaker.
Anyway, in the morning, after a poor sleep due to the incessant moon, we made haste. We hoped to take a day off in grants, and there were two ways to get there, a slightly shorter and half paved option, and a longer mostly off route option. We chose the shorter option and after a really washboarded and exposed 20 miles, we turned off onto a highway.
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It was more downhill than uphill on our way to town but it was a long 50 miles or so. The wind seemed to be slightly in our face, but not overly agressive. We passed lave flow fields on the left and cliffs of sandstone on the right. We even saw a natural arch on the way and took a few minutes off the bike to hike up to see it.
Around mile 60, it got pretty arduous. you could see the town for the last 5 miles, but it seemed to stay the same distance away.
At some point I got phone service and bill texted to say he was in town and in a motel. Mary had found his hat on a particularly rough downhill a couple days ago and we stopped by to return it. He said he had taken an off day there. We asked him if he had gone to look at the hostel, but he had not. Grants has a hostel as well, and I was leary since it was another CDT hiker hot spot. We stopped at a mexican restaurant and luckily they had huge portions. I ate so much food and had root beer. The "eat as much of whatever you can" has kicked in. After eating, we pedalled to the Lava flow hostel. We had heard good things, but I was skeptical. I couldnt tell from the booking if you could get a private room or not. We pulled up to find it chocabock full of CDT hikers. The proprietor, Ranger Ross, was out of town and it was chaotic. I decided to book a bed anyway. We stepped into the living room and an older CDT hiker dude had his hand stuffed into a shoe, apparently massaging it carefully. He looked up and said, "Wats yer names"? We looked back and told him our real names. He said, "well, mines Kitty Hawk". We just turned around and went about our business after that. I think I mumbled something like "cool" and "we dont have trail names on the bike". Some other hiker said "dont worry, it will come". I dont think it will.
Everything in that place smelled like a hiker. a primordial stink. I wonder why they dont shower AND wash their clothes. Maybe the transition between clean and dirty is too hard to make on the trail and maybe their backpacks just never stop stinking so whats the point. Luckily, some car driving person rented the bed below us, so it didnt smell to bad in our room. I slept well, but I wasnt sure I wanted to take an off day here the next day, and Bills crappy motel was $66.
Oh, we did buy one of ranger ross' home brew beers and it was quite good. I think this hostel could be alot cooler with fewer hikers.
Mileage:70
Up:1598
Down:2881
Time:8
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 226 miles (364 km)
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My wife and I stayed at the Toaster House when we did the Great Divide, and it was surely one of the grungiest places I've ever stayed. And I've stayed in some pretty nasty places while bike touring.
11 months ago
11 months ago