Polvadera to Goat Tank Canyon 13 mi :: 327 mi :: Sunny, warm, breezy Mark and Mary Ann take us to Martha’s Black Dog Coffeehouse for breakfast, a good place to stock up on protein, carbs, and caffeine for the day. We chat until the shoe store opens at 9, then wander over there. This…

Pie Town to Polvadera 0 mi :: 314 mi :: Sunny, warm We sleep late and have a leisurely breakfast with Sean while Mark and Mary Ann go for a ride. Sean tempts me with good software engineering work opportunities in New Zealand. After we’ve broken camp Sean hits the road. Soon after we’re riding…

Pie Town to Pie Town 11 mi :: 314 mi :: Sunny, hot We’re a little slow in the morning after having dinner, wine, and music at Nita and Don’s last night. Our camp seems to have become more established after our days here, too. It’s more than an hour before we’re ready to move.…

Pie Town 0 mi :: 303 mi :: Sunny, windy Today we volunteer to take out the trash from the overflowing bins in Pie Town’s Jackson Park. Nita helps us and drives us with the trash to the dump in her truck. Then I help Don take their trash out and move a sofa. It’s…

Pie Town 0 mi :: 303 mi :: Sunny, windy We have a rest day in Pie Town. I try to revive my computer and phone with the new solar panel – everything is stone dead. Ann works on fixing her pants. After walking around in her new flipflops, she decides her hiking sandals are…

Co. Rd. 603 to Pie Town 8 mi :: 303 mi :: Sunny, cool, windy We awake from a windy but warm night. We’re soon on the road, and we see the first red roof of Pie Town before we’ve stopped for breakfast. It’s strange wandering into town on empty dirt roads. We pass a…

Martin Canyon to Co. Rd. 603 19 mi :: 295 mi :: Sunny, cooler, windy In the morning we continue down the road along the telephone lines. Soon we reach an old trail marker on a gated road road headed back towards the gate where we turned around last night. The road we’re on turns…

FS218 to Martin Canyon 17 mi :: 276 mi :: Cloudy, warm, lots of thunder, sprinkles We’re back on the forest road early. It’s nice, easy to follow, with fairly gentle ups and downs through Juniper and Ponderosa-covered hills. We pass up water in a muddy cow pond, since there’s supposed to be more water…

Elk Wallow Ridge to FS218 13 mi :: 259 mi :: Sunny, warm, light afternoon showers In the morning I discover part of our problem – I had entered a GPS reference point incorrectly. We find our correct position on a ridge near the divide. We bushwhack towards the intersection we’re looking for, crossing more…

FS94 to Elk Wallow Ridge 13 mi :: 246 mi :: Sunny, some clouds, warm Some of Wayne’s tribe are up before the sun, getting ready to hunt wild turkey. Not wanting to appear lazy, we pack up and bid them good hunting. We soon pass the turn where our spring should be. There’s supposed…