Mile 370. Tortoise wishes Wounded Duck a very happy birthday! To celebrate this, he ventured on to a new trail to him, the Arizona Trail, on the third and final day of his business trip today. This was a long day, starting in Palm Desert, including a meeting in Peoria, AZ (near Phoenix), and then home by way of Flagstaff. Pictured above are two of the landmarks of that city, the San Francisco peaks in the distance and Route 66 at the signal lights below the peaks. The Arizona Trail goes from Stateline Campground on the Utah-Arizona border east of Kanab, to near Jacob Lake, down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and up the South Rim, becomes an urban trail through Flagstaff, and continues several hundred more miles to Mexico. It's perhaps a third of the length of the Pacific Crest Trail that hosted yesterday's walk. Both are National Scenic Trails.
Today's walk started at the McDonalds just south of Route 66 and followed the Arizona Trail north from there two miles to the junction with the local Cedar Trail before returning. The cool crisp mountain air was a welcome change from the desert heat yesterday! The day's walking thought is by Jeffrey Holland, appropriate for Wounded Duck's birthday ...
Cheerio!
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| Lots of trail crossings. Flagstaff clearly has a well developed trail system that will be fun to explore as opportunities present themselves in the years to come. |
Today's walk was 4.53 miles, done in 1:29:21 hours at an average pace of 19:43 minutes per mile. This route had an average tortoise rating of 3.9, earned by climbing 257 feet in the 2.27 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 6986.
Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:
370.72 miles walked, compared with Lou's goal for this date of 366.24 miles.
27,376 total feet climbed so far in 2016, compared to a year-to-date goal of 22,540. Lou hopes to climb more than the 61,316 feet he climbed in 2015 -- but in less time each day than his 1:07:04 hour average in 2015. So far in 2016 Tortoise's walks have averaged 54:27 minutes each.
His average pace so far in 2016 has been 16:54 minutes per mile, compared with his 18:25 minute per mile pace in 2015.
Lou has walked 316 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, 2015. Overall he has walked on 419 of the 428 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 97.90% consistency rating.
One step at a time can lead to great things!
And now for today's walking thought ...
"President George Q. Cannon once taught: 'No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so]. ... He will [always] stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them.'
"Now with that majestic devotion ringing from heaven as the great constant in our lives, manifested most purely and perfectly in the life, death, and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can escape the consequences of both sin and stupidity--our own or that of others--in whatever form they may come to us in the course of daily living. If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow--and every other day--is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don't always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth 'that all things work together for good to them that love God.' So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."
-- Jeffrey R. Holland, "Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders Among You", April 2016 LDS General Conference
The Tortoise is smiling!
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