From Grants we rode to Pie Town through El Malpais Natural Monument. Pie Town is a tiny community with 2 cafe’s/restaurants where they sell pie, that’s where the name comes from. It once started with a guy opening a bakery. It became so known and famous for its pies that people from all over came to eat pie there. So the town name was changed to Pie Town and it’s still famous for its pies. But the thing is that the restaurant closes when the pies are sold out. They bake a certain amount of pies a day and when they’re gone, they close. So that can be at noon or at 4 pm or any other time of the day.
El Malpais was very nice, with nice rock formations, arches and canyons. After that the scenery was barren and bold again and we could see a long way ahead. The wind was increasing, but fortunately it came from behind. Because the sky started to turn really dark at some point, we decided to camp at the TLC Ranch, a place where hikers and bikers can camp and where you can get water from the water jugs that are put out there. We could have continued to Pie Town, but we wouldn’t be in time for pie. So we decided to pitch our tent so we could be in Pie Town early enough for pie the next day. And we made it. There still was pie when we arrived, so we both had a piece. It also was the last time we would see the people from the ACA group that rode the whole route, so we said goodbye tot hem. They were continuing and we were staying in Pie Town.
Because Pie Town is another iconic place on the GDMBR, not just for the pie, but mainly because of the Toaster House. That’s a house where hikers and bikers can stay for free. You can also use and eat everyting in and around the house. There’s even a big fridge and freezer wit hall sorts of food. The house was owned by a lady who opened it up for hikers and bikers. She died earlier this year, but her relatives keep the house open. The name comes from all the toasters that are screwed tot he fence. We had company of some other cyclists, so that was nice. Because the weather forecast predicted a lot of rain for the next days which would make the road (almost) impassable, we stayed for a few days. We didn’t want to get stuck in the mud again. There were different cyclists arriving every day, so we had a good time.
