Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #5 Valle Tio Vinces Campground, NM to El Malpais National Conservation Area, NM

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #5

May 31, 2022

Valle Tio Vinces Campground to El Malpais National Conservation Area, NM - 62 Miles

Start 7:23 AM Finish 7:58 PM

Total Duration 12:18

Moving Time 6:29

Stopped Time 5:50

Ascent 2959 Feet

Descent 3885 Feet

Tour Total 351 Miles

Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/91848676

I slept well in Valle Tio Vinces Campground. It got cold during the night. I forgot to put my phone on silent mode, and it started dinging at 6am. I was a hundred miles from Grants and intended to break it into two days. I’d be getting a hotel in Grants and going to the brewery. I managed to pack up my camp without jamming any zippers or getting any more dust into my equipment.

Immediately out of the campground I had a five mile climb to the top of the ridge. On the other side was a brisk downhill in the shade. I was wearing my rain jacket and leg-warmers, and it was cold. I was learning how to ride my new bike, and mastering what it could do, and what I could do. It was a really great bike! I could slam right into rocks or ride straight into gravel piles if I wanted. I left the National Forest and three elk ran straight across the road in front of me. I rode by a ranch with a few buildings, some of which were abandoned. I had a nice flat gravel section, and there were fresh cow pies in the road. I passed the Old San Jose Catholic Church constructed out of stacked rocks and mud. There were two nearby reservoirs.

I came to Reed Road and took a right, where I noticed a raven enjoying leftovers from a freshly killed rabbit. A white pick-up truck towing a mobile home and a gray pick-up truck towing a trailer passed me going in the other direction. Collectively they kicked up a monster cloud of dust. I hit a long section of fine gravel and sand with washboards. I was becoming more confident with what I could do with the bike. At 8:30 AM I pulled over at a cattle guard to remove my rain jacket and leg-warmers. In addition I lathered myself with sunscreen and put on my sunglasses and arm protectors. After a long straight flat on washboard gravel I crossed another cattle guard and took a left on Ed Jones Road.

I was able to pick up the speed on a really nice even section. I came to a ranch and noticed a large cooler by the fence on the side of the road. Inside was cold water, which I guzzled. I had been down to half a liter, which I had figured was enough to get me to Pie Town. I ran into northbound hikers Rainbird and Rachel, who were aiming to do the entire Continental Divide Trail. They had started May 5th, and were able to walk along the Gila River and get to within six miles of the fire. They were planning to jump from Grants to Colorado to avoid the fires in northern New Mexico. They wanted to come back later and fill in the gaps.

I could see a cell phone tower in the distance and figured I must be getting close to civilization. I passed the entrance to the Southern Cross Ranch and then came to outskirts of Pie Town. I noticed a 15 MPH speed limit sign, and three different churches. I stopped at Pie Town ‘Ohana’ Cafe for slices of Ohana and Apple pie along with two Cokes. Pie Town was a popular tourist destination for motorists traveling the old Route 66. I had been worried that everything would be closed, but I lucked out. The proprietor was originally from upstate New York, and he told me about the area. He recommended the Mal Pais alternative north, because of the beautiful geological formations. He told me where to find the Toaster House, and invited me to sit out on his back porch to recharge my devices, refill my water bottles, and take advantage of the Wi-Fi to edit my reports.

I was still learning how to use my new iPad with the keyboard. It runs down it’s battery quickly, so I’ve been shutting it down in between uses. I had assumed that it had the same characteristics as my laptop but it was a different animal. Files weren't automatically saved. Last night I lost my Day #3 edit and had to redo it. Then Chrome crashed again, and I lost the final revision. I need to repeatedly hit the save button on both of these applications.

Next I went to the Toaster House where I was greeted by Rainbird and Rachel, whom had arrived before me. I realized that I had left my reading glasses back at the pie cafe, so I returned to retrieve them. The mischievous wind had blown them off the table. The Toaster House was a refuge for both cyclists and hikers. The perimeter fence was decorated with old toasters, and the porch wall was covered with hiking boots. Inside, It had a warm inviting feeling. I first enjoyed a shower. The tub turned brown as I filled the drain with dirt. Afterwards caretaker Kareen warmed up some stuffed green peppers, fries, and sausage cuts for lunch. It was tough to leave, but I wanted a half off-day tomorrow in Grants and needed to cover more ground. Before heading out, caretaker Jefferson let me use the official Pie Town CDT stamp. We took a selfie and then I was off on gravel route 63 north, aka York Ranch Road. I was wearing dirty clothes and had a scraggly face, but I was back at level one.

A truck passed me going in the other direction and kicked up a plume of dust. I was no longer at level one. I slammed into a gravel bump and one of my water bottles flew from it’s cage. There was a lot of deep sand and my bike and new tires handled well. I only had one foot-down through the section, and it was when I was about to slide into a ditch. I saw a figure in the distance and eventually met up with northbound trail hiker Princess Ann. She had started in Pie Town this morning and was headed to the TLC Ranch. At Grants she would even either be getting a ride or flying to Colorado to avoid the fires up north. She asked me, “Isn’t this the greatest?”. I couldn’t agree more. I was feeling total bliss being out here.

There was tall yellow grass and short scrubby pine trees to both sides of the road. The left side had a barbed wire fence with metal poles and there were tree branch polls to the right. I pulled into the TLC Ranch, which was my original destination for the day. I sat on the porch outside the homestead and enjoyed the shade as well as much cold water as I could swallow.

Later, as I was riding down the road, I heard a siren bleep behind me. What? Was I back in New York? Did I just run through a stop sign? Was I going get a ticket? It was a sheriff in a white pick up truck wanting to pass me. I lifted up my buff and let him by. I then went through a brutal washboard section that exhausted me. Afterwards I found myself in open range with scruffy bushes, clumpy dried grass, and plenty of places to stealth camp. It was 6:30 PM and it didn’t seem likely that I was going to make it to my planned destination. It didn’t matter.

A large elk went running across the road. I then entered a flat open range and saw a group of llama. The loose gravel washboard was really giving me a tough time and slowing me down. I finally came to York Ranch, the road’s namesake. I saw and smelled a skunk scramble through the clumps of grass.

Finally I got to Homestead Canyon Trailhead, where I would be going off route to Informal Campground 8. It was 7:30 PM. The trail lead towards the scruffy trees on the edge of the valley. The trail was dirt and deep sand, and difficult riding. I had to walk my bike in places, and was exhausted. I was expecting a picnic table, a sign, or something at the destination. I found a traffic circle full of sand and scraggly trees that provided shade and protection. In addition to the dirt there was garbage. I don’t like setting up next to wads of toilet paper, but I was spent. I erected my tent carefully to avoid sand and dirt from getting inside. The trees weren’t high enough to hang my food, so I brought it into my tent as Rainbird and Rachel had suggested. I was too tired to edit reports horizontal, so I packed up my iPad and went to bed.