Due to some colder weather and a bit of snow a lot of hikers took an extra day or to to enjoy the hospitality of Nita and her amazing "Toaster House". It's basically a super comfortable house (aptly decorated with old toasters, etc.) that has more or less been donated to hikers now that Nita's children are raised. It was a full house when we arrived, so the atmosphere was festive and everyone stayed up late, playing instruments, singing, drinking, eating and socializing. It was obvious to see why everyone took extra time off to relax and enjoy the coziness and cook meals on the wood burning stove. We spent a day and a half there and then individually drifted out of town, happy and full of pie.
Leaving town on my own for the first time I immediately relaxed into my own pace of things; faster pace, less food, fewer breaks and some tunes to keep me company. The miles tend to melt away with ease on road walks and the only real thing to be careful for is your feet- which I wasn't- so along with my first 30-something also came blisters on the pads of both feet. Stopping to give them a moment to cool that evening, I was surprised to look up and see Bigfoot and Focus, who I had assumed were far ahead.
Our joyous reunion was brief however, because soon after making a small plan to make it to a particular windmill for water, I ditched down a side road and wandered off into the woods. My day of independence and solitude had inspired me (I was so tired of the long road walks); the allure of the trees and the hills pulled me away and I hobbled cross-country, step by painful step. I slowly made my way into the woods, stopping here and there to catch my breath and watch the sun set turn everything a beautiful orange and red.
I found fragments of pottery everywhere. Animal prints of every kind were clearly marked in the sand. There was something simultaneously lonely, meditative and perfectly serene about slowly picking my way over these forgotten memories. To date it is was my favorite night so far on, or rather off, the trail.
The next morning I made my way back down to the official trail, the feet feeling much better after a good nights rest. The vantage point offered a nice view of Cebolla Canyon below.
Ok, so then I bumped into Bigfoot and Focus again...radness! And so we spent a very fun afternoon being goofy and hiking up along what I think was called the "Mesa Canyon Rim Trail", or something like that.
The Arch was enormous and very cool geological feature. We did half the rim trail, then scrambled down near the trailhead. It may was certainly exhausting, but this is just Bigfoot being Bigfoot and I love it.
Then, surprise...more road walk! (We thought this one looked like Eagle Rock along the PCT)
As we walked the usual drizzle and rolling storm clouds pursued. We camped off the side of the road that night up near a mesa close to private property. It's still kinda weird to have to pay attention to this after basically camping wherever you want along the PCT. It left us with a casual 14 miles of freeway strolling into Grants, NM.