The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise

"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!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

13-94

The tortoise is back.

Smiling and as boring as ever ... 3.00 miles walked home on a glorious southern Utah spring evening in 55 minutes. Ate 2292 calories today, 18 less than what my friends at livestrong.com says is my limit to keep my tortoise goal of losing a pound a week. Before whatever this walk helped.

Mostly it just made me happy to do something more than climb stairs and get in whatever I could in 10 minutes. I can always dream this will give me more energy to finish out the 10 remaining days before the ides of April and the taxman strikes ...

Cheerio!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

13-90

Minimum 0.5 mile walk, 20 feet of stairs climbed.

Today's final word ...

from reading in John 8

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye ^acontinue in my word, then are ye my ^bdisciples indeed;

"And ye shall ^aknow the ^btruth, and the ^ctruth shall make you ^dfree."

-- John 8:31-32

Cheerio!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

13-87

Minimum 0.5 mile walk with 20 feet of stairs climbed.

Today's final word ...

from reading in 2 Nephi 33

And now, my beloved brethren, and also ^aJew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and ^bbelieve in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall ^cbelieve in Christ ye will believe in these ^dwords, for they are the ^ewords of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they ^fteach all men that they should do good.

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with ^apower and great ^bglory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his ^akingdom at that great and last day.

Nephi's farewell testimony reminds me of Moroni's words in Moroni 10.

Cheerio!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

13-84

Walked 0.5 miles in 10 minutes today, with 60 feet of stairs climbed. Ate 2401 calories today, 16552 in the past 7 days. Had a beautiful 2 hour morning drive this morning on highway 50 up the gradual west slope of the Sierra on my way to see my clients for the day. Set the mood for the day, Heavenly Father's creations really are wonderful!

Here is the view from Echo Summit looking down at the south side of Lake Tahoe, very nice!

Cheerio!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

13-83

I walked 0.5 miles in 10 minutes, including 60 feet climbed up stairs. Ate 1616 calories today and a total of 15,356 calories in the past 7 days. Livestrong.com says my current goal should be below 16,170 in 7 days if I want to lose a pound a week. That target has been gradually dropping as I have taken off weight at my tortoise pace, overall I'm pleased.

Please click here for today's final word ...

13-82

I walked 0.75 miles in 15 minutes through airports today with 30 feet of stairs climbed. Ate 2280 calories today; 15,542 in the past 7 days.

Along the way today I passed the (in)famous Donner Pass, now along Interstate 80 near Truckee, CA just north of Lake Tahoe. Back in the 1840s, it was a much more daunting crossing as you undoubtedly now. Elder Parley P. Pratt had much to say about it when he passed by not long after it happened.

Turns out to also be where the Pacific Crest Trail cross today's trunkline coast-to-coast freeway. There is a nice trailhead and parking area now, well used by folks playing in the snow. Not much hiking going on for obvious reasons when you see my pictures, but it is fun as a sneak preview of how much snow has to melt so we can hike in these mountains this summer ...

This is not a snowplow piled drift, this is how much snow is everywhere

Click here to see a few more pictures at 7200 feet elevation in March.

13-77

Walked 0.5 miles in 10 minutes, climbed 40 feet of stairs. Ate 1205 calories. Survived another long work day.

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 :-)