I got an early start to get to the festivities on time.
Intuitively I took a right turn going east toward route 90, which takes you into town. This ended up being a dead end at a fence declaring it to be private property.
I turned around and went the opposite direction, hoping it was correct as it snaked around through the forest. I was relieved to eventually see the Tyrone mine to my left and get to 90 at 10:00 am.
I started the 12 mile road walk into Silver City. After about 6 miles of road walk, I saw a driver going the other way wave at me, do a u-turn and pull up next to me.
“Are you Race?”
No, it wasn’t me he was looking for and I hadn’t seen anyone else walking on the road other than a dog walker. This hiker named Race had called him asking for a ride. This trail angel named John figured Race got a ride from someone else and asked if I would like a ride into town. HeHo!
John got me to the Kopper Manor hotel around noon with plenty of time to bathe and change clothes. I had lunch at the Golden Star, which serves a heaping helping of Chinese food for $7. I got laundry done and headed to the Little Toad for the night’s big CDT kickoff party.
I got there about an hour early and saw some people that looked like they might be hikers, but upon inquiry found out they weren’t. I guess I was the first one there. I got a beer as the real hikers started showing up. It ended up being a big turnout.
A funny thing happened. There was a raffle, and since I was early I was one of the first to buy tickets. When Teresa Martinez took stage to explain the raffle, she specifically mentioned a last-in-print edition of a book by John Fahey (who was present) and a pie from Pie Town. A pie! This caught everyone’s interest, including me. What I seem to remember is Teresa saying there would be a special drawing for these two prizes at the end. I sat there with my 20 raffle tickets thinking that every prize I didn’t win would improve my odds of winning the pie in the special drawing at the end. Toward the end of the raffle one of my numbers was called. Figuring I might not get the pie in a later special drawing I looked over my options on the prize table. As I was looking over the Sawyer filter (which I already had), a backpack (which I already had) and other goodies, the next number was called. The next winner stepped up to the table and said “Pie!” at which time the pie that was less than 4 feet from my nose was handed over. As the pie landed on a table in the bar, a flock of seagulls swooped in with forks. As I watched with my jaw on the ground, every molecule of pie was consumed before I could say the words “I could have had a pie.” I looked back at the table and saw the unwrapped John Fahey book. “Could I get this book?” I asked. It was handed over and signed by the author himself.
Pie is a transient pleasure. This book will be enjoyed for a long time, and I will get to Pie Town.
(The name is withheld to protect the guilty, who is a very nice person)
Hikers partied hard into the evening, and all had a fun time. Great kickoff!