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The second time was the charm for walking the T-Bone Trail in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, rated at 2.4 tortoises on the uphill portion.  Round trip for this trail is 4.29 miles from the parking area on the west side of Pioneer Park, through the new park that is being constructed slightly to the east, to the T-Bone trailhead on Cottonwood Road.  There is a lot of elevation gains and drops along the way, which Tortoise measured at 509 feet.  The official BLM figures are a little less, go check them out here, then walk the trail yourself, and add a comment below with your own experience.

This is a delightful walk on a somewhat sandy, rocky path that will get your heart going for sure.  The 2.4 tortoise rating includes 1 level for the path condition.  A map, plentiful pictures, and today's walking thought taken from "The Voice Is Still Small" by Graham Doxey await you when you click below to continue reading ...

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyFitness

The loop near the top of the path, as shown on the map above, is a result of Tortoise's blunder in following the trail along the way.  There are side paths along the way that aren't always marked, and the blunder was following one of them.  Tortoise was fortunate to be able to see where he needed to end up, so when presented with the next choice, corrected his path with just a little extra distance and climbing.  (This is probably part of the explanation for longer distance and more elevation gain presented here than on the BLM link provided above).  

You will want to take care as you walk ... and of course, don't cut the trail.  We are blessed to be able to share this habitat with various plants and animals, which is best done by staying on the trail, even if in places that is a multiple choice endeavor.

Signal Peak dominates the skyline as you head north on much of the T-Bone Trail

Evidence of recent rains as the trail dips in view of a rise to follow

Some of those rises are moderately steep

The next few pictures show views in various directions along the way

Approaching the trailhead on Cottonwood Road

The view looking up Cottonwood Road.  Not quite a mile up from the T-Bone
trailhead is the west end of the Middleton Powerline Trail, which Tortoise
walked a few days ago -- check it out here.

Ready to turn around and head back to Pioneer Park

 2014 Stats:

807.66 miles walked, which is 80.69% of my 2014 goal.

255:13:57 hours walked, which is 81.54% of my 2014 goal

39,007 total feet climbed 

129,023 calories burned
77.64% of the year has passed

I've walked 17 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on September 20, and overall have walked on 230 of the 243 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 94.65% 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.

And now for today's walking thought ...

"My testimony is that the Lord is speaking to you! But with the deafening decibels of today’s environment, all too often we fail to hear him. I remember as a youth having the experience of being in company with an older man who had lost much of his hearing ability. He had no hearing aid and was continually asking that we speak louder so that he could be part of the conversation. He would say, “Talk louder; speak up; I can’t hear you.”

"That was before the days of television and CDs and boomers and blasters. I was interested in someone’s observation: “With TV, and radio, and tapes, what young person has time to listen to reason?” Listening is a challenge for us all today.

"Time to listen. The ability to listen. The desire to listen. On religious matters, too many of us are saying, “What did you say? Speak up; I can’t hear you.” And when he doesn’t shout back, or cause the bush to burn, or write us a message in stone with his finger, we are inclined to think he doesn’t listen, doesn’t care about us. Some even conclude there is no God.

"Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “Every common bush [is] afire with God; but only he who sees, takes off his shoes.” (Aurora Leigh, book 7, lines 822–23.)

"The questions are not “Does God live? Does God love me? Does God speak to me?” The critical question is, “Are you listening to him?” Have you removed your shoes? It is the same for you as it was for Elijah, as it is with the modern-day prophets: “The still, small voice is still small.”

To watch, listen to, or read this message in full, including three "hearing aids" to help us recognize the still, small voice, please visit https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1991/10/the-voice-is-still-small?lang=eng #ShareGoodness

The tortoise is smiling!