Start: CDT mile 360.4
Stop: Pie Town Alternate mile 14.4
Today’s Miles: 21.1
Total CDT miles: 292.3
I thought for sure Pebbles and I would be sliding on our sleeping pads all night, but surprisingly we stayed put pretty well! And I slept good, too.. I’ll take the wins when I can!
We had some pretty trail throughout the morning before getting onto a dirt road that eventually took us to the Pie Town Alternate. Right before getting to it, we got water from a solar tank and hid in the shade for a bit with another hiker planning to hitch into a town we were planning to skip. I know, me skipping a town? Shocking!
The rest of the day was dirt roads and uneventful, until a little after 5pm. It was hot as hell, we were pouring sweat-and we had a climb! We had to go up a dirt road to a fire tower lookout. It was over 800 feet of elevation in just a few short miles.. in the heat, it felt like it was 20 miles away!
Close to half way up the dirt road, winding around a mountain, a black jeep wrangler comes barreling down the road! I screamed and jumped to my left, the mountain side of the road, Pebbles screamed because of me and jumped to the right, thankfully not off the side of the mountain! We laughed for way too long about the screams and jumps, even hours later, cackling and unable to stop.
The man in the jeep was the caretaker and I guess “fire lookout guy.” He told us where some water was but not much else. I petted his cute doggo, and we carried on up the hill-the only thing making me continue walking being the laughter at how we reacted to the jeep.
Close to the top, we realized we had to climb up a slight cliffside and bushwhack through to the fire tower, unless we wanted to add unnecessary miles to the day. We climbed up and made it through, to find a cabin and a picnic table. We had our dinner there, trying to figure out where we’d camp for the night. As we sat eating, looking off into the gorgeous distance, we spotted a puff of smoke. “Hmmm.. you think that’s a fire?” “I don’t know, but maybe.” And right before our eyes we watched it start to slowly billow more smoke.
We wrapped up dinner and started walking back the way we came, to get back to the road that would take us to the trail. The smoke was getting worse. Pebbles looked up on his phone and was guesstimating it being about 15 miles away from us. I called it in to 911, and we were within the first 30 minutes of the initial call to report it! It was a fire! She said they were dispatching the local fire department and basically that was it.. I sort of thought she should ask me follow up questions like, “are you safe from the fire right now?”
Or something? But I guess when it happens all the time out here, people would start with “I need help!” Who knows?
As the sun was setting and we were looking for a flat spot to camp, I could smell the smoke from the fire. I really hate that smell.. it never seems to not make me think of the house fire I was in as a child, the one we lost my brother to. I tried to ignore the rush of emotions flooding me, Pebbles helped lighten the mood-for sure-with his jokes and fits of laughter about the jeep.
We’re cowboying tonight, and we’re still smelling the smoke but it’s gotten better since we’ve set up. I hope I don’t have nightmares tonight, or wake in a panic. Crazy how something from 33 years ago can show up out of the blue and feel like yesterday. Anyway, I guess that’s it, goodnight yall.