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Mile 816.  Lou parked his car at the church an hour early for its Special Needs activity night, then started on a loop walk from there to spend a little time in Confluence Park.  Shown above is the view from the Confluence trail near its junction with the Virgin River trail (which fords the river to the left.  For more on that, visit Tortoise's June 14, 2014 walk).  Lou really enjoyed the contrasting colors in this one, hope you do too.  To see more of Lou's photography this day, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

Nice view of the mountain ahead as Lou walks up 300 West

In Confluence Park now.  La Verkin Creek is flowing through the high
grass to the right of the tree on the ride side of Confluence trail.

Looking the opposite direction from about the same point as the
picture at the top of this blog post.

These hardy cacti always impress Tortoise when he walks past this volcanic cliff.

Back up out of the park on 560 West.  Nice view to the bluffs beyond
and the restored building just below them.

Notice the 12% grade climbing up from Cactus Cliff.  That one was
for Lou's doctor, who wants him to find heart pumping places to walk.

Today's walk was 3.26 miles, with a 4.0 tortoise rating earned by climbing 360 feet in the 1.63 mile uphill portion.  Average elevation was 3134.  The walk burned 510 calories in 1:12:22 hours.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

816.94 miles walked, which is 81.53% of Lou's 2015 goal.  On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 799.19 year-to-date miles.

250:36:14 hours walked, which is 80.07% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year).

43,254 total feet climbed, compared with 38,045 feet on this day in 2014.

122,479 calories burned.

77.00% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 129 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11.  Overall he has walked on 232 of the 241 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.27% consistency rating.  This compares with 228 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 94.61% consistency rating).

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of both distance and of 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 walking record up until 2013 with 2014 or 2015 ... 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).

And now for today's walking thought ...

"Purity is possible through the grace of Christ as we deny ungodliness and choose to love God with might, mind, and strength.  (Moroni 10:32) The Apostle Paul taught, 'Flee ... youthful lusts: ... follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.' (2 Timothy 2:22)  None of us is perfect.  We have all made mistakes.  But we repent so that we may be better and 'retain the name [of Christ] written always in [our] hearts.' (Mosiah 5:12) When we serve in the name of the Lord, with purity of heart, we reflect the Savior's love and give others a glimpse of heaven."

-- Carol McConkie, "Here to Serve a Righteous Cause", October 2015 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!