The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 14-125

"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, May 5, 2014

14-125

Made an unexpected drive to Washington towards the end of the work day and took the opportunity to check out some more of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve trails just off Interstate 15 at exit 13 on my way home. Today I used the Grapevine trail to access the Dino Cliffs trail and headed out as far as I could go in thirty-some minutes, then retraced my steps back to the car. Some fun views along the way ... if you open the picture above up and look at it carefully full screen, you can see Coral Canyon, the block H in Hurricane, and the mountains of Zion Park beyond. I went 3.59 miles with 269 feet climbed in 1:09:16 hours. Tortoise rating: 4.0; calories burned: 561.

Please click below for a map and more pictures ...

Cheerio!

Create Maps or search from 80 million at Humana Fit

I knew this would be a nice walk right away when I saw these
pretty purple flowers that made me think of Willyne.

About a mile in the Dino Cliffs trail heads out to the left.

In some places the trail blends right into the red rocks.
Thank goodness for the rocks stacked on top of each
other to show you the way.

The view beyond as I reach today's turnaround point.

A couple mountain bikers were also really enjoying this trail.

2014 Stats:

357.60 miles walked, which is 35.76% of my 2014 goal.

111:38:13 hours walked, which is 35.67% of my 2014 goal

16,536 total feet climbed

57,572 calories burned

34.19% of the year has passed

I've walked on 101 of the 107 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 94.39% consistency rating.

Weigh-in this morning: 235.6, unchanged from a week ago.

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!

3 comments:

Becca BeecherMay 6, 2014 at 6:15 PM
First off I love that you sign off Cheerio. I know I've commented about this before, but it still gets me.

Secondly, I love how an unexpected trip to Washington turned into this. Magically Mystery Tour at its finest :)
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RachelMay 6, 2014 at 6:25 PM
Okay, I couldn't see any of those things you said to look for, but it looks like home, so good enough for me :)
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UnknownMay 6, 2014 at 10:52 PM
Becca, there are very few things in life I love more than a good magical mystery tour, and it's one thing that I can count on to make my walks seem short! Rachel, I would love to take you to the spot in person and show you these gems from home. I also love that just the fact it looks like home makes it good enough for you!

Thank you both so much for giving this record of my walking adventures 20 minutes or so of your time this evening. Your comments warm my heart -- thank you again!
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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 :-)