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Mile 98.  Tortoise discovered the North Etiwanda Preserve on a beautiful afternoon today.  It's easy to find, just take the Day Creek exit 61 off the 210 freeway and head uphill until it ends at Etiwanda Avenue.  Turn left and in a short distance Etiwanda Avenue ends in a gravel parking lot for the preserve.  There are several trails available here.  The main trail is a loop that Lou completed in 4.29 miles including a few picture-taking detours along the way and a nice steady hill to climb.  The good doctor would approve!

For more on this walk, including lots of pictures and today's walking thought by Bruce D. Porter, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

There's signs every quarter mile that include elevation.

This is near the top of the loop, about 2 miles up.

Views every direction from this welcome shaded place to rest

The Preserve literally starts at the northern boundary
of the highest neighborhood in Etiwanda.

Tortoise completed today's walk in 1:38:15 hours.  Tortoise rating was 2.9, based on 650 feet climbed in the 1.81 mile "uphill" portion.  674 calories were burned. 

Tortoise's walking map provider, www.mapmyfitness.com, has changed formats recently and the maps haven't transferred to this blog as well since.  Instead of embedding the map, let's try this link and see if that works better for you to see where Lou walked today:

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/626405494

And here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

98.14 miles walked, which is 9.79% of my 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 103.92 year-to-date miles.  

29:40:02 hours walked, which is 9.48% of my 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year)

4,337 total feet climbed, compared with 5,874 feet on this day in 2014.

14,585 calories burned

9.27% of the year has passed

Lou has walked 37 consecutive non-Sundays since his last missed day on December 22, and overall has walked on 327 of the 342 non-Sundays since the beginning of 2014, a 95.61% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells Tortoise that he is on track. Yes, this is more numbers than you are likely interested in, all Tortoise can say is he's really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because he doesn't do them every, every day.  (If you doubt this, compare Tortoise's 2013 walking record with 2014)

And now for today's walking thought, initially presented in October 1995:

"The parable of the prodigal son is a parable of us all. It reminds us that we are, in some measure, prodigal sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. For, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

"Like the errant son of the Savior’s parable, we have come to “a far country” (Luke 15:13) separated from our premortal home. Like the prodigal, we share in a divine inheritance, but by our sins we squander a portion thereof and experience a “mighty famine” (Luke 15:14) of spirit. Like him, we learn through painful experience that worldly pleasures and pursuits are of no more worth than the husks of corn that swine eat. We yearn to be reconciled with our Father and return to his home."

To watch, listen to, or read this message in full, please visit https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/redeemer-of-israel?lang=eng #ShareGoodness

The tortoise is smiling!