Mileage: 34.5 miles (285.4-319.9)
I woke up resolved to make it to Pie Town the same day. Unfortunately, it had snowed and rained most of the night so it took awhile to break camp. By 6:45 I was walking, with a long day ahead. After a few miles of ups and downs, I began the ascent of Mangus Mountain, a 9,600 ft peak with a fire lookout on top. I was on dirt roads all the way to Pie Town, which was a blessing as long as they weren't too muddy to walk on. It sure beat hopping over dead trees and trying to find the trail every five minutes.
As I climbed Mangus the snow became more prevalent on the trees, eventually covering the road completely. My footprints melded with that of the coyotes, rabbit, elk, and other creatures who used the same trail hours or even minutes before. I rustled about ten elk from their breakfast, all does perturbed by the disturbance. By 10:30, I'd made it to the top of Mangus but didn't see a trail to the fire tower and summit.
Right as I pulled out my GPS a jeep pulled up behind me. The guy slowed down and told me he was the lookout and I should come up to have a look around. I'm sure glad he pulled up, because it was really fascinating learning about the system of towers and how they locate fires using triangulation and a specialized instrument that was like a enormous compass fixed in place.
He also showed me a bunch of picture of lookouts from the '20s and what it was like in the old days. Turns out they used to just build platforms on top of Ponderosa pines or other tall trees.
Sad to leave so soon because of the great conversation (and the gas heater), I said goodbye to the lookout and he gave me a smokey the bear 'live strong' bracelet, which said 'prevent forest fires.' The lookout thought I was crazy to try to make it the 26 additional miles to Pie Town but I just smiled and said, 'thank you'.
From Mangus it was mostly downhill, with a lot of minor ups and downs along the way. Over the next 26 miles I totally circumnavigated Alegres Mountain, one of the larger peaks around (10,000+ feet), and really formidable looking from it's southern face.
As I got lower the roads dried out, except for patches of mud here and there. I stopped a few times to dry out my socks and clean my feet, but pushed as hard as I could while staying well-fed and hydrated. I knew that would be important to make it the whole 35 miles.
I counted down from twenty miles left, then fifteen and ten and finally five. I'd enter a trance-like state, focusing soley on putting one foot in front of the other. With about ten miles left I noticed the sky was getting very dark off in the distance. The wind started picking up and I braced myself for a storm. I put on my rain jacket, but thankfully only got a few bits of hail, with the storm pushing to the north. I was treated to a beautiful sunset and even a rainbow as I trudged through the final miles. I kept telling myself, 'If you only could make it by 8pm, you won't be hiking in the dark.'
When I finally reached Pie Town, the final hill felt interminable (...the next day it didn't even look like a hill). I walked into the Toaster House at 8:12pm, greeted by three hikers I'd met previously - Reckless, Maniac, and Karma. They were all pretty surprised to see me so soon, but treated me like family - they cooked me dinner of eggs, pizza, and beer and had a fire stoked in the stove.
The owner of the house, Nita, even came by later and we all had a singalong by the fire. How things change on the CDT: from one night feeling totally alone and wet and cold, to the next totally dry and warm with a full stomach, feeling like I was with family. That's the magic of this trail - sometimes you are determined to get somewhere and you're not even sure why, but once you get there you know. You have ups and downs and sometimes you have no idea when they'll come, but there they are.
I somehow mustered the energy to shower around 11pm, then hung out some more and went to bed by midnight - the latest I'd been up since being on the trail - I sure was glad I made it to Pie Town.
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