Pie Town, NM

Location: Toaster House, Pie Town, NM

6/1/2024

Pie Town, NM is a tiny hamlet in a seemingly endless stretch of empty highway. It began when a rancher family opened a shed selling apple pies in the 1920’s along Hwy 60 in the middle of nowhere. But it caught on.

Now Pie Town has TWO pie restaurants, a Post Office and that’s pretty much it. Urban sprawl strikes again. In my view, Pie Town’s biggest claim to fame is the CDT hiking AND bicycling trail run directly thru it. Lot’s more bikers than hikers, surprisingly. And it has the most interesting abandoned house I have ever stayed at. The toaster house. Named such since it has hundreds of toasters lining the fences. Don’t ask me why. See picture above.

Toaster house was owned by a Nita Larronde who took in hikers and bikers when they passed by offering food, shelter, advice and assistance. She started in the 1970’s and was a true trail angel until her recent death in Jan 2024. At the same time, she raised 5 children in the same house. If you ever hiked or biked the CDT, her hospitality was legendary.

After her passing, her children kept the house available for hikers and bikers. The kids live far away and we hiker and biker trash try to keep the house going, but I fear it’s a losing cause over the long run. The older I get, the more institutions I see slip away. But that’s life. To quote SK’s Gunslinger series: “The World just moves on…”

Hiking constantly teaches me things about myself. One lesson that I struggle with is how to get by with less stuff. Nita’s Toaster House is still stuffed with all her personal items. Her clothes are still in her bedroom closet. The room I slept in had her wedding photos on the wall and her china teacup collection at the foot of my bed. It was her cherished possessions…now it’s just stuff no one wants.

Backpacking constantly reminds me of how little I need to get by and how burdensome any excess becomes (especially when carrying it on your back). But my intellect still struggles with my poor kid upbringing that taught me “stuff” is security and eventually all that trash might become useful. It’s true in my backpacking style and of course my battles with downsizing the Houston part of my life. I get better, but god it’s such a slow battle.

So over the years, Toaster House became the perfect hiking/biking hostel. I’m including a few pictures to remind everyone to be careful of excess “stuff” in your life, because instead of you owning stuff it often begins to own you.

Thank you Nita and Family for your service to the CDT community and your example of the goodness of strangers.