The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 13-239

"The Blog Almost Too Boring To Be The Most Boring Blog in America ... for Over 5 Years!"

until it got too many red cards from Wounded Duck and the Boredom Enforcement Committee ... now the tortoise's goal is to get to 10 red cards so he can get Big Dog to drive down and take a good long walk with the tortoise

P. S. This blog listens to its readers. We have the Benjamin Category Override for 5+ mile walks and now, it humbles Tortoise to say he has been named "Lou", by Doug Jr, in memory of Mr. Consistency himself, Lou Gehrig. Tortoise can hardly type the words to think he is in any way comparable to the noble Iron Horse. Thank you!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

13-239

This is the first half of a walk on both coasts in the same week. I'm trying to write this on my iPad on the airplane headed home, and I do better on blogger on my Windows laptop. Someone wants to train me, sounds brilliant to me! In the meantime, please click here to look at some great pictures and if you scroll far enough, you'll see some more descriptions.

Cheerio!

Sunset on the shore near the Hermosa Beach, CA fishing pier. Very peaceful.

This evening's walk after finishing my three appointments today (and driving here from Utah this morning) was 3.31 miles in 1:15 hours total elapsed time, included several breaks to stop and enjoy. Total walked since 6/28: 104.38 miles. Tortoise rating: 6.8 ... elevation range from -5 (low tide) to +50, for an average of 23, and an average grade of 0.3%. If I really want to find a path at a perfect 7.0 tortoise rating, I guess I'm going to have to find a parking place at sea level and then walk a flat path along the beach. The view and the salt air were pretty terrific too. Click here for more pictures:

Cheerio!

I parked at the 2nd Avenue end of the Hermosa Greenbelt trail

The Hermosa Greenbelt trail is terrific. Wide, smooth tree-lined path with frequent benches

2 comments:

RachelAugust 31, 2013 at 9:39 PM
The pictures of the beach at night were super pretty, especially the pictures of the water
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UnknownSeptember 1, 2013 at 8:19 PM
I love the smell of the salt in the air too!
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Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Segments Hiked

Total lifetime PCT miles hiked: 205.0 out of the 2,650 total.

From 1966 to 1969 segment Tortoise hiked the portion of the PCT shared by the John Muir Trail, covering PCT miles 767.0 to 942.5 (175.5 miles). (While hiking the full 211 miles of the Muir Trail from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney)

Tortoise then embarked on a long career at a desk, interrupted momentarily for a day hike in 1988 up Mt. Baden-Powell as a Varsity Boy Scout coach with his team. That took him from PCT miles 374.0 to 377.9, roundtrip. (There was also a second trip from Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney with the Varsity Boy Scouts in 1989. He barely made it, crying with joy and appreciation when he did. That is a story all of its own).

He returned many years later with these walks. Please click on the date for a link to that day's blog post:

June 14, 2012, hiked PCT miles 565.0 to 566.6 (1.6 miles) on both sides of California Highway 58 at the Cameron Road exit.

October 20, 2012, hiked PCT miles 341 to 342 (1 miles) mostly on the east side of Interstate 15 but also under the storm runoff tunnel just south of the exit to California Highway 138 near Cajon Pass.

February 2013, continued in two segments to do miles 342 to 347 (5 miles).

August 13, 2013, hiked miles 374.2 to 376.6 roundtrip from Vincent Gap trailhead at milepost 74.7 on California highway 2.

February 17, 2015, hiked miles 452.9 to 450.4 roundtrip from Vasquez Rocks Picnic Area.

March 16, 2015, hiked miles 341.9 to 340.2 southbound from Cajon Pass Road, then returned. Partial redo of October 20, 2012 walk ... plus a little more.

April 3, 2015, hiked miles 1089.8 to 1091.9 roundtrip from Echo Summit trailhead to near Echo Lake.

May 12, 2016, hiked miles 206.8 to 204.3 southbound from the Snow Canyon Road gate at the bottom of Mt. San Jacinto, then returned.

August 17, 2016, hiked miles 209.5 to 206.8 southbound from the underpass at Interstate 10 Exit 110 to Snow Creek, then returned.

May 26, 2017, hiked miles 369.4 to 364.4 southbound from the Inspiration Point trailhead on California Highway 2, then returned.

The tortoise may eventually set some kind of record for the longest time to complete the PCT in microsegments. You never know, but we're already at 51 years and counting since his first segment from Onion Valley to Taboose Pass in July 1966 :-)