The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 16-13

"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!

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

16-13

Mile 28. Tortoise had a late afternoon errand to do in Washington today, after which he parked at the trailhead just south of the intersection of Telegraph and Washington Parkway, and walked down, down, down to the Cottonwood Wash trail. He walked up the length of that trail, about a mile, and then retraced his steps. This produced a walk with many ups and downs, with grades reaching 9%. Sounds good to Lou! The day's walking thought is by L. Tom Perry ...

Cheerio!

Today's walk was 2.85 miles and had a 3.6 tortoise rating earned by climbing 386 feet in the 1.43 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 2843. This walk burned 462 calories in 45:49 minutes, a pace of 16:05 minutes per mile.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

28.91 miles walked which is 4.23% of Lou's 2016 goal of 683 miles. His goal for this date is 23.93 total miles.

7:47:59 hours walked which is 3.73% of the 2016 goal (which is to walk 40 minutes a day on the 314 days other than Sunday in the year).

2,393 total feet climbed in 2016, compared with his goal of 1,340 feet.

4,661 calories burned.

3.50% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 212 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 315 of the 324 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 97.22% 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.

And now for today's walking thought ...

"What was my grandfather likening to a harness and bit? I believed then as I believe now, that my grandfather was teaching me to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. In his mind's eye, the harness and bit were spiritual. An obedient horse which is part of a well-trained team of horses needs little more than a gentle tug from the driver to do exactly what he wants it to do. This gentle tug is equivalent to the still, small voice with which the Lord speaks to us. Out of respect for our agency, it is never a strong, forceful tug. ...

"It is also true that the time during which my grandfather lived was a simpler time, especially regarding the choices between right and wrong. While some very intelligent and insightful people might believe our more complex time demands ever more complex solutions, I am far from convinced they are right. Rather, I am of the frame of mind that today's complexity demands greater simplicity, like the answer my father gave to my sincere question about how to know the difference between right and wrong. I know what I have to offer today is a simple formula, but I can testify about how well it words for me. I recommend it to you and even challenge you to experiment upon my words, and if you do, I promise that they will lead you to clarity of choice when you are bombarded with choices and that they will lead to simple answers to questions that confuse the learned and those who think they are wise."

-- L. Tom Perry, "Obedience through Our Faithfulness", April 2014 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!

2 comments:

BenjaminJanuary 17, 2016 at 3:02 PM
9%! I'm so loving this!
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownJanuary 17, 2016 at 3:44 PM
The 9% was in the two purple segments in the climbing chart that accompanies the map. Certainly not the whole walk, but it still got Tortoise's heart pumping ...
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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 :-)