The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 14-69

"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!

Monday, March 10, 2014

14-69

Welcome, Spring ... at least it feels like it! I was able to start a walk at 7:30 pm after a long work day, and still see budding, blooming trees. A very nice, 4.36 mile walk, with 151 feet climbed, in 1:18:34 hours.

It was also the day I passed 200 miles for the year, in honor of that, and because I have been walking but not posting, if you will be kind enough to click below to continue reading, I will share some pictures from the past week's walks when I have been in travel mode ...

Cheerio!

March 3: The Strand in Hermosa Beach, from the pier north to the Manhattan Beach line

March 4 - Oak Valley Trail in Bear Valley Springs near Tehachapi, in Kern County, CA

March 5 - Solvang, in Santa Barbara County, CA

Got to walk with my Uncle Wally today. Danish architecture is nice too!

Had a too brief, but very nice, visit with Wally & Kathy

Later on March 5 I walked on Judy & Larry's horse ranch in Paso Robles,
San Luis Obispo County, CA. Amazing where doing tax returns
and long friendships can take you!

March 6 was my 3rd missed day for 2014. I was right back at it the next day.
This is a trail along the Weber River in Riverdale (Weber County), UT.

March 8 - Had breakfast and walked with Benjamin in Springville, UT.
He's lost some weight and looking good!

I walked a mile and a half with Benjamin, then stopped on my way home

to do another mile and a half checking out the ghost town of Sulphurdale,
in Beaver County, UT

The residents were gone by 1975, but there is clearly still activity here,
producing electricity.

And I-15 has a full offramp (129) for it, along with a "No Services" warning.

2014 Stats:

201.06 miles walked, which is 20.11% of my 2014 goal.

63:55:31 hours walked, which is 20.42% of my 2014 goal

10,379 total feet climbed

32,556 calories burned

18.85% of the year has passed.

I've walked on 56 of the 59 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 94.92% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells me I am on track. I'm sure this is more numbers than you are interested in, all I can say is I'm really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because I don't do them every, every day.

The tortoise is smiling!

4 comments:

BenjaminMarch 13, 2014 at 9:16 AM
Thanks for catching us up! Love the pictures and how well the tortoise is doing even in the thick of tax season!
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RachelMarch 13, 2014 at 4:08 PM
Uncle Wally!! Benjamin looks awesome, and the walks on the beach look so bask worthy, and your endless creativity with walking paths is legend. Tortoise is dominating, love it friend
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UnknownMarch 13, 2014 at 6:20 PM
Thank you both! Benjamin really is looking good! Just curious, Rachel, had you ever seen a picture of Uncle Wally before or just heard about him through your wonderful true story?
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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 :-)