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Mile 471.  The morning dawned beautiful and inviting.  Tortoise set off on the large loop through Confluence Park by walking up Main Street to the highway, then through Spanish Gardens and Riverwoods to the north park entrance.  The location pictured above is near the beginning of the Confluence Trail as it follows La Verkin Creek.  From there he followed his usual path to the south trailhead on State Street.  Accompanying Lou was the day's walking thought by Henry Eyring ...

Cheerio!

This connector between Spanish Gardens and Riverwoods is short and nice.

North entrance to Confluence Trail.

You know that tree has a story to tell!

Smiling Tortoise leaving his autograph and greeting.

At each end of the trail.  Let's keep the rangers happy!

Today's walk was 4.83 miles, done in 1:27:15 hours at an average pace of 18:04 minutes per mile.  This route had an average tortoise rating of 4.0, earned by climbing 302 feet in the 1.38 mile uphill portion.  Average elevation was 3136.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

471.60 miles walked, compared with Lou's goal for this date of 461.78.

32,854 total feet climbed so far in 2016, compared to a year-to-date goal of 28,420.  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 per day average in 2015.  So far in 2016, Tortoise's walks have averaged 56:52 minutes each.

His average pace so far in 2016 has been 17:29 minutes per mile, compared with his 18:25 minute per mile pace in 2015.

Lou has walked 346 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, 2015.  Overall he has walked on 449 of the 458 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 98.035% consistency rating.

One step at a time can lead to great things!

And now for today's walking thought ...

"There are other ways to reach out; you are already engaged in many of them.  Your habits of family prayer and scripture reading will create more lasting memories and greater changes of heart than you may realize now.  Even apparently temporal activities, such as attending an athletic event or watching a movie, can shape a child's heart.  What matters is not the activity but the feelings that come as you do it.  I have discovered a good test for identifying activities with the potential to make a great difference in a young person's life.  It is that they suggest the activity out of an interest they feel has come to them as a gift from God.  I know that is possible from my own experience."

-- Henry B. Eyring, "Help Them Aim High", October 2012 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!