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Mile 674.  Tortoise dedicates today's highlighted picture to Kate.  She will know why.  Lou closed out his walking week by going to the west end of La Verkin's Center Street, then dropping down the Cactus Cliff trail so he could get a hill by climbing back up.  The island in the river has not reappeared yet, but patience!  Tortoise is confident it will.  After the hill, Lou meandered on various streets to make his way home, picking up some nice sunset views along the way.  Walking thought was by Barbara Thompson ...

Cheerio!

Today's walk was 3.57 miles, done in 1:07:20 hours at an average pace of 18:52 minutes per mile. This route had an average tortoise rating of 4.7, earned by climbing 265 feet in the 1.79 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 3134.    

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

674.63 miles walked, compared with Lou's goal for this date of 656.05.

46,823 total feet climbed so far in 2016, compared to a year-to-date goal of 40,376.   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 59:04 minutes each.

His average pace so far in 2016 has been 18:02.2 minutes per mile, compared with his 18:25 minute per mile pace in 2015.

Lou has walked 407 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, 2015. overall he has walked on 510 of the 519 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 98.266% consistency rating.

And now for today's walking thought:

" ... It is our testimony, combined with our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our knowledge of the plan of salvation, which helps to get us through these times of trial and hardship.  In the book Daughters in My Kingdom, we read about Sister Hedwig Biereichel, a woman in Germany who suffered much sorrow and deprivation during World War II. Because of her love and charitable nature, and even in her own great need, she willingly shared her food with starving prisoners of war.  Later, when asked how she was able to 'keep a testimony during all [those] trials,' she replied in effect, 'I didn't keep a testimony through those times -- the testimony kept me'."

-- Barbara Thompson, "Personal Revelation and Testimony", LDS General Conference, October 2011

The tortoise is smiling!