15-185

Mile 529.  Happy Independence Day, America!  Tortoise celebrated by getting up early and heading to the end of the Zion National Park shuttle at the Temple of Shinawava with Josh, Benjamin, Ethan, and Riley.  We headed up the Riverside Walk from there, and then walked the river upstream for another half mile.  For many more exciting pictures and other details from this walk and the rest of Tortoise's walking week, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

Fresh off the shuttle and walking up the canyon

Thought this was a desert :-)

Always on the lookout for hardy, beautiful flowers blossoming
in this harsh desert environment.

Josh showing the skills of walking on slick sandstone.

Wait!  Is that a squirrel Roo sees?

Yes!

A blurry shot of a swinging Roo ... thanks Dad!

Walked a mile, trail is done.  Preparing to continue in the river.
An especially popular destination this July 4.

Josh thought it was important to document Tortoise
with his rolled up denims and neon white legs.
Thank goodness for water shoes!

The river is chilly, in case you were wondering :-)

Canyon is getting narrower, and fun waterfalls are appearing.

The canyon walls are steep!

Heading back downstream now.

Occasionally you get to walk on dry rocks instead of wet submerged rocks.

Back on the trail, passing under a low hanging rock cliff.

Information from the Park Service on this walk.

Water is delicious!

Here's a map of today's 2.93 mile walk:

There were five other daily walks, Monday through Friday, this week.  The total of them plus this one was 18.7 miles.  Here's some pictures and highlights from those walks:

Monday, June 29, was the basic 3.6 mile La Verkin loop, followed by a shorter
2.0 mile loop up La Verkin's Center Street hill on Tuesday, June 30.

This picture and the one below are from a 3.8 mile slightly expanded
La Verkin loop on Wednesday, July 1

This and the next picture are from the same LaVerkin loop
with another extra street to make it 4.1 miles on Thursday the 2nd.

Josh christening our wood smoker July 3 with some carne asada.  Very tender,
flavorful ... and the wood smell is great!  Friday's walk was a quick 2.1 miles
down 100 North from the office in Hurricane so Tortoise could get home to
the goodness!

Here's some summary stats on those walks:

Monday, 3.67 miles in 1:05:36 hours
Tuesday, 2.03 miles in 35:07 minutes
Wednesday, 3.86 miles in 1:06:05 hours
Thursday, 4.14 miles in 1;16:23 hours
Friday, 2.11 miles in 34:30 minutes
Saturday, 2.93 miles in 1:57:27 hours (including lots of breaks to enjoy the water and the view.)

Tortoise ratings Monday through Saturday were 5.7, 5.2, 5.6, 5.5, 5.8, and 4.0.  (Saturday's rating including a one-point adjustment for walking on slick rocks in the river.)

Calories burned Monday through Saturday were 540, 297, 565, 612, 325, and 594, respectively.

And here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

529.35 miles walked, which is 52.83% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 522.66 year-to-date miles.   

162:25:37 hours walked, which is 51.89% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year)

25,244 total feet climbed, compared with 24,025 feet on this day in 2014.  

79,411 calories burned

50.80% of the year has passed

Lou has walked 47 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11. Overall he has walked on 150 of the 159 non-Sundays in 2015, a 94.34% consistency rating.  This compares with 148 days walked after 159 non-Sundays in 2014 (a 93.08% 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 ... for him, it is what it takes to be consistent. And Tortoise feels much more vibrant when he is consistent.  He hopes you find what works for you)

The tortoise is smiling!