Daily Walk 640 - Highway 2 Inspiration Point to Guffy Camp

A beautiful day to walk a little of the Pacific Crest Trail on my way home from a quick work trip to California.  Miles 369.4 southbound to 364.4, then back.  Met a lot of friendly people along the way!  Totes, Walnut, and Pecan -- hope you have a wonderful experience on the trail this summer!

This brings me to 518.57 miles for 2017 (20.67 ahead of goal) with 51,014 feet climbed (10,950 more than goal).  And 205.0 miles lifetime on the PCT.  Just trying to stay alive and vibrant!

Cheerio!

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Mile 643.  After the day's work was complete, Tortoise started for home on a longer, alternate route because the Blue Cut fire closed down a major stretch of Interstate 15 yesterday.  The alternate put Lou on Interstate 10, so he made the best of it by getting off at Exit 110 near Cabazon where the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) passes underneath the busy freeway at mile 209.5 of the trail's journey from Mexico to Canada.  Tortoise parked his car on the ample dirt shoulder of the frontage road near the freeway exit, and started walking south on the trail to the secluded village of Snow Creek, where he started his last PCT walk on May 12.  Come enjoy the pictures he took along the way there and back, as well as the walking thought by David Evans ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 366.  The second day of Tortoise's business trip took him gradually east to Palm Desert.  His last stop of the day was to drive to the gate on the Snow Canyon Road that the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) shares for a little more than a mile.  This point is PCT mile 206.8.  Lou parked here and walked uphill into the San Jacinto wilderness.  The mountain itself towers 9,000 feet above the trail in this picture, something Fredricksen and Ledge will well remember.  Today's walk climbed 1,006 feet of elevation, the most for a Tortoise walk so far in 2016, but only a tiny portion of the mountain.  At PCT mile 204.3, light was fading quickly and it was time to turn around for today.  Hope you enjoy the pictures and the day's walking thought by Paul Johnson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 304.  After finishing his work in Gardnerville late this afternoon, Tortoise headed up Kingsbury Grade to Lake Tahoe, joined US Highway 50, and headed for where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway. Here he parked and treated himself to a beautiful 2 mile walk towards Echo Lake, then returned.  The uphill portion was 2.14 miles, with 546 feet climbed.  Average elevation was 7489 feet, and tortoise rating was 2.44.  For a map, plenty of pictures, and more, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 242.  Tortoise detoured from Interstate 15 for an hour this afternoon to walk a little farther on a piece of the Pacific Crest Trail than he did the last time he tried, October 20, 2012.   It was an energetic 3.44 mile walk with some nice views.  For more pictures, a map and other details, and the day's wallking thought by M. Russell Ballard, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 151.  A high quality Tortoise walk to pass 150 miles for the year.  Another five mile walk where the terrain was hilly enough for a 4.6 Tortoise rating without the need for a Benjamin category override.  We get some fifty year old Tortoise history while we are at it, in a location that when the Pacific Crest Trail was later established, passes through.  It's known for being a good filming location, and Lou had to wait for a film crew to clear the road when the walk was complete and he headed to his next appointment.

There are over seventy pictures waiting for you and other details of today's walk, along with a classic walking thought by Gordon Hinckley, when you click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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9

Late afternoon after my appointments, I did another of my "lets see how far we can get up a mountain before a specific time forces a retreat before dark" hikes.  This time I started at Vincent Gap (elevation 6567 on Doug Jr's and Sarah's favorite California Highway 2, six miles west of Table Mountain and nine west of Wrightwood, if Terry's reading). Vincent Gap happens to be a trailhead for the Pacific Crest Trail at its mile 374.2.  The mountain I started up was Mt. Baden-Powell, a climb of 2835 feet in 4.0 miles, which is a tall order to do round trip when you start at 5:28 pm and sundown is 7:42.  I've done BP once before, in 1988 with the Victorville Varsity Scouts.

I made it 2.4 miles to 8145 feet, a climb of 1578 feet, in 1:55:56 total elapsed time (including 23:20 minutes of rest breaks along the way).  Tortoise rating:  -1.3.  Clearly no world speed record, I was huffing and puffing with vigor.  Average heart rate was 132, and I reached a peak of 151 several times, at which point I stopped to catch my breath.  I carried about 20 pounds in my pack.

The return trip took 46:18 minutes total elapsed time (with 1:47 in rest breaks), which got me back to the car at 8:10 pm.  Sun was gone except for some bright orange remnants.  I couldn't have timed it much better.  Tortoise rating for the return trip is 4.9.

Please click here for plentiful pictures and food eaten today.  Footnote:  Miles walked since June 28 ... 82.87.

Cheerio!

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On my way home from a California business trip, I paused to walk 5.00 miles this afternoon round trip on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from its crossing of Swarthout Canyon Road at PCT mile 347.2 southbound to mile 344.7, with 684 feet climbed in the uphill section, in 1:56:35 hour.  Peak heart rate: 159, with an average of 131.  Tortoise rating:  3.4.

Here's a map and some more pictures for your enjoyment, along with food details, and today's final word ...

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The Right Honorable Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
(yes, I remember the sincere tributes given him when he died)
http://www.wpclipart.com/famous/political/Churchill/Churchill.png.html

Walked after my last appointment of the day (October 20) ... not much daylight but I did get in 2.25 miles, with 256 feet climbed, on a short segment of the Pacific Crest Trail in 51:32, a 22:56 minute per mile pace.  Uphill half of walk before retracing my steps had a tortoise rating of 3.9.

Eating today 1,820 calories; most recent 7 day total 13,616 calories. Please click on the line below to see a map and pictures of today's category 5 walk:

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Walked 3.30 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes today, including 200 feet climbed. Tortoise rating:  4.7.  Chapter 3 totals are 45.13 miles walked in 18 hours 8 minutes, with 1,617 feet climbed, and 6 swims totalling 1,590 meters in 1 hour 32 minutes.  It was my fourth category 5 climb, and first since June 12.  Totals of my category 5 climbs is 7.04 miles with 588 feet climbed in 2 hour 32 minutes.

This was an impromptu walk.  I passed the bridge where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses California Highway 58 in daylight, and since this happens rarely, it occurred to me that this was my chance to locate where the trail goes in both directions from this point, since sign markings are not as clear as I would like.  It was a