Tour Divide '24: Day 5 - Grants to Davila Ranch

 We were now getting accustomed to setting an alarm and getting going. Another 5:30a rise & shine and we were on our way. We cruised a good five miles through the eastern outskirts of Grants arriving at the truck stop over I-40 for our resupply....CLOSED. Huh?? At first we were both dumbfounded and really didn't want to ride back the way we came, but we needed stuff. A lot of it as this is one of the longest hauls of no food options on route. some 250 miles. Sure, Pie Town awaits, but there really isn't anything to buy and take with you. Plus, we weren't sure we'd make it in time as the hours can be limited. It was a long 74 miles away.

Another car pulled into the truck stop as we looked inside, then checked the hours on the door. Opens at 7a. What time is it anyway? 6:57a. Whew. Minor crisis avoided. Let the shopping commence!! We needed breakfast for now, plus two more days and something for dinner for two nights. Those Don Miguel gut bomb burritos were staring me down, I had no choice. Bought two. Loaded up on drinks and began rearranging my backpack. For the record, those Jimmy Dean breakfast biscuits suck. I could've swore I've had them before and they weren't too bad, but I couldn't even finish it. So gross.

The place did have one of those carousels selling those small Watchover Voodoo dolls, I have one on my bike, AKA-ONI, and we decided that Justin needed one too, SPRITE. Maybe they'd bring us good luck on this long stretch to Silver City.

Fueled, restocked and ready to go we continued on the Tour Divide route through the El Malpais Nat'l Monument. This paved section is about 12 miles shorter than the optional dirt route south of Grants and cuts out another climb. Again. I'll have to come back and do a nice figure 8 bikepacking ride from Cuba down through Grants to this section.

No real surprise that Grants began as a railroad town.

Large piece of Petrified Wood from Holbrook, AZ at the truck stop.

Waiting for the doors to open.

Leaving the hustle of I-40 in the dust.

So far this morning I was having a difficult time settling into the saddle. I was beginning to get those all too familiar pressure points, something I guess I just have to deal with on long pedaly multi-day rides. Of course my current saddle situation wasn't helping matters as the pliability of the leather was rendered moot when I put my compression sock under the middle of it.

I was looking forward to this section, it's super scenic as I had driven it years ago.

Chugging some water from my 2L bladder that I had in my framebag. I needed to drink from it first, why? Well, I just purchased it specifically for this ride and wouldn't you know, pinhole leak right out of the gate. Justin had a tent repair patch, which helped, but didn't completely stop it. Photo by Justin.

Entering the cliff zone.

I was finally starting to settle into the day, this looks like a good place for a snack break and my leftover tuna sub.

The arch was a bit difficult to see in the morning light, but it's there, center stage.

Justin capturing the 'behind the scenes' action shots.

Close-up of La Ventana Arch.

There was a stray dog roaming around the parking lot and another tourist who had arrived just ahead of us, via car, was trying to figure out what to do with it. Not sure if it was dropped off there or lived in the area and survived off the kindness of strangers.

The lava rock was everywhere out here.

We passed a CDT through hiker on the road. Man, that's a tough go. So much respect for the long distance hikers.

Done with the cliffs, now the huge open plains.

The miles were going by quickly, could we keep the pace once back on dirt?

Let's see how this goes, the infamous 'Road to Pie Town', known for incessant wash boards. We could now see distinct smoke on the horizon from the Antone Fire south of Pie Town.

The road is actually listed as York Ranch Rd.

Yep, there were wash boards, lots of them, but it wasn't too difficult to find a decent path through. The riding was still going at a good clip too. I mentioned to Justin that as long as we kept a 7 mph average, we should easily make Pie Town during business hours. For some reason I had 4p stuck in my head as the closing time for the Gathering Place.

At one point, we stopped for a short break. I told Justin if / when he gets ahead of me to not wait up, instead, push on to Pie Town and order me a slice of blueberry pie and a cold Coke. I wasn't joking.

Soon enough Justin slowly crept ahead. The day was getting warm, upper 80's, and the fast riding had slowed a bit due to the increase in climbs. I was beginning to drag a bit as our mileage now surpassed 60 miles on the day.

Came across this seemingly random cemetery in the middle of nowhere.

Long gradual climbs with a kicker at the end.

More structures began to appear, town must be getting close.

We passed a few more northbound riders who all informed us about the upcoming fire area. So far, everyone was able to pass through on route. Most of the smoke was nestled in the valley and it appeared the crews had things under control. We'd find out tomorrow. The riders also warned us of an upcoming sandy stretch of road.

The TLC Ranch, we heard a few folks had stayed here.

Cool relic.

I recognized these mountains from my drive across US60 last year. I knew Pie Town was on the near side of the range.

If we don't get some pie, we may end up like this guy. Photo by Justin.

Sand. It wasn't horrible, only a couple of deep areas that needed to be walked. It was just slow going and so close to town, it was frustrating. Time was ticking. The sand lasted for four or five miles. Meh.

Back on a hard dirt surface, the smoke from the Antone Fire now clearly visible and not looking too great.

It was 3:45p when I reached US60. Only a short hill stood between myself and pie. Man, it was a slow climb. Justin was waiting at the Gathering Place, no pie in hand, but he had better news. They close at 5p. Yesss!! I should have known that because I actually wrote it on my cue sheet that was on my handlebars, but it was a bit difficult to see. Anyway, we made it, now it was time to eat and enjoy some cold drinks.

Super stoked to make it during business hours.

Their outdoor patio had a nice collection of license plates. Collecting them has been a side hobby of mine since 2nd grade.

Fantastic cheeseburger and those homemade chips. That really hit the spot.

The funny thing was, after having a few cold drinks - ice water & soda, neither one of us really wanted any pie. How can that be?? We've been thinking of this particular stop along the route for five years and now we don't want pie?? What the hell is wrong with us. I went inside to pay my bill and wouldn't you know, a cut blueberry pie was sitting there on the counter. Talk about a sign. Ok, pie, you win. I'll take a slice.

Yeah, it was delicious. What was I thinking? No pie, no chance. All was right in the world.

We had been hanging out for over an hour, letting things cool down a bit. We decided to stay in town for another hour or so, hang out at the famed Toaster House - a hostel for CDT hikers and Tour Divide/GDMBR riders. But first, we took some more pics of Pie Town:

Can't miss the giant STOP sign.

The Pie-O-Neer Cafe is probably the better known pie place in town, but it has really odd & short hours. It was closed today. One day I'll grab a slice here.

Vintage signs on the property.

Along with this classic.

Phoning in a pizza delivery for camp. How great would that be?

I'm a little surprised a gas station wouldn't survive here, being on US60.

The east facing Pie Town sign could use a makeover.

West facing side doesn't look too bad.

Heading off towards the Toaster House. We'd cut through town to avoid a hill.

Now you know why it's called the Toaster House.

Toaster fenceline.

It's actually a really cool house with everything you'd need to freshen up along your journey.

I believe the owner passed away in recent years, not sure who owns the place. Donations are accepted, please leave the place better than when you arrived.

Large shaded patio to hang out.

There were a few GDMBR tourers spending the night. We hung out chatting with them, hearing about their rides so far. One fella, Kevin, from Hawaii, asked us if we heard about the Davila Ranch. We hadn't. It's not on most maps, he said, but it is on the Google Terrain Map. He told us it was 14 miles south of Pie Town between two cones. He showed me on my ACA app of the GDMBR route, which through here is the same as the Tour Divide route. Justin and I now had a goal for the evening as we were looking to get another 15 - 20 miles on the day. Kevin told us of all the amenities this place had, almost sounded too good to be true. All donation based too. We wished them all good luck on their travels north and readied for our short ride to camp. 

We topped off water, then I told Justin I needed to ride down to US60 and back because our shortcut to the Toaster House cut a few blocks of the route. Ha! Even though we weren't racing, I still felt the need to comply to the full route from 2019.

Lots of hikers pass through these parts. Photo by Justin.

The wash boards disappeared south of town, but were storm clouds brewing?

Found a vintage 7UP pull-tab can off the side of the road.

The early evening light and smoke illuminate the landscape in a surreal way.

A lone ranger came to great us, then galloped across the dirt road as we rode nearby. It was a sight to see.

Cones appearing in the distance, we must be getting close. We were nearing 8,000' and the top of a climb.

We had spotted a few ranch houses and thought they may be Davila Ranch, but each was marked with No Trespassing signs and/or locked gates. We began to joke about Kevin giving us fool's gold, did this place really exist? Man, that would be a cruel joke as we would need water soon enough the following day. He sure sounded confident when giving the location information, it has to be close now.

It turned into a beautiful evening to be out pedaling.

There it is!! We spotted the two tree limb fence posts with the small sign and the short singletrack trail like Kevin described.

Make a note of this place if you're traveling through.

It was quiet when we arrived, we yelled a couple of times to see if anyone was around. Nada. Then we saw some cycling gear and found one other guy in the back watching a movie on his phone. It was just the three of us. He told us what we could find there and we went about exploring before darkness settled in.

Ranch remnants to the east of the main structure.

This one has been here a while.

Talk about a fiery sunset, a bit too literal for our taste. No smoke at the ranch. That open structure would be our home for the night. Cowboy camping in an open stall with fresh dirt brought in.

This place had it all: full laundry, eggs & potatoes in the fridge for breakfast if you desired.

Full shower, hot & cold water + shampoo. Next stall had clean towels and extra clothes while you washed the dirty stuff.

Cooking setup.

An actual sink, plus a flushing toilet too.

And Wi-Fi if you so choose and plenty of power strips to charge your electronics.

If you're keeping track, this was now three straight nights with a shower!! Unheard of for this bikepacker. Heck, I even washed my clothes. We were living large.

The other rider was also putting in big days and was from the mid-west. It was cool listening to he and Justin talk about some of the bigger events back home and knowing similar riders.

We took care of everything we needed to and crashed out in our stall. Thanks for the tip, Kevin. You can follow the Davila Ranch over on Instagram.

Route:

Strava Link

Full photo album for Day 5

Here is a full Tour Divide Index from each day on the route.