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Mile 795.  Greetings from the Cottonwood Wash area. Tortoise saw his doctor today.  Walks are helping, but he still needs to get 2 1/2 more inches off and include 20 minutes of his hour long daily walks at 125 heart rate or better.  Well, okay then, he'll do it!  We are at consecutive walking day 444.  Today's 3.80 mile walk was 1:15:45 hours, for a pace of 19:56 minutes per mile.  Lou climbed 252 feet, today's tortoise rating was 4.3.  More pictures await below ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 780.  You're looking up the Grapevine Trail, about a mile from the trailhead on Washington Parkway, which is just west of Interstate 15, exit 13.  One of many views that makes Tortoise smile when he is walking in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. 

The day's walking thought was by Julie Beck ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 773.   Lou has been looking for the Rusty Cliffs trail, which he had noticed on maps just north of City Creek trail.  But he had found it challenging to actually find along the Red Cliffs Parkway.  Today, Tortoise figured it out.  It turns out the City Creek trail forks near its western terminus at the Parkway.  The right fork he walked back on September 7.  It ends at the Parkway.  The left fork goes under the parkway, and when you emerge from the tunnel, the view shown above appears and the Rusty Cliffs trail begins.  Lou accessed it today by parking near the Sunset shopping center and theaters and walking up to the Red Cliffs Parkway and taking the right fork of City Creek trail to the left fork.  There's a map later on if that was confusing.  The views are lovely on this path just across highway 18 from the Chuckawalla trailhead.  Somehow the dirt path compared with the paved one that hugs the highway seems much more like you are out in the wilds.  Be sure to let Lou know what you think!  

Walking thought was provided by Quentin Cook today.

Cheerio!

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Mile 760.  The T-Bone Trail is a beautiful, hilly, two mile trail that goes north from the Red Hills Desert Garden in St. George.  Lou took lots of pictures as he walked it this afternoon, and hopes you will enjoy them!  Walking thought was provided by Matthew Richardson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 729.  The latest work deadline is past.  Tortoise celebrated by exploring the Pioneer Rim trail in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.  It's one of the very nice things about living in the southwestern corner of Utah -- it is a very short drive in any direction from work to a nature preserve, scenic trails, good exercise, and an escape from the stress of the day.

This particular trail is not well marked, so Lou had to work extra hard to look ahead to the next trail marker or cairn to stay on course.  When he got done, he felt like he had walked more like 6 miles than 4.  It's all good, though!  The day's walking thought was provided by Henry Eyring ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 705.  Since he walked the Owen's Loop Trail on August 24, with its terrific views from an observation point like setting, Tortoise has been excited to try the City Creek Trail nearby.  From the maps, it looks like a good way to walk through the country cars drive through on Red Hills Parkway without being right next to the cars -- at least for one direction of a loop.  

It is that, and more.  It turns out to be a popular training ground for cross country runners with its up and down meandering path, which consumes mileage without actually going very far.  Lou generally differs from most hikers with regards to switchbacks.  He would prefer to walk farther if it keeps slopes to below, say, 10%.  As you will see a little later on the trail map, the City Creek Trail takes switchbacks to an extreme.  A couple times the trail actually goes up and down in a segment more than if it took the direct route instead of a long switchback.  This left Tortoise amused.  He still enjoyed this walk though.

Some might think it late in the year to be attempting this, but Lou has just discovered the 52 Hike Challenge, and he is intrigued enough to try to finish it in 2016, with a personal criteria of at least 5k (3.1 miles) in order for a given day's effort to qualify.  Today's adventure is #hike1.  This should be fun!

The day's walking thought was by Carl Cook ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 664.  Lou has wanted to walk the Owens Loop trail for probably a year now, since he discovered its existence in the rugged terrain of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, yet within the St. George city limits and the promise of excellent views from its perch 300 or so feet directly above the city.  It did not disappoint!

Pictures and the day's walking thought by Mary Cook await ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 579.  It was warm and hazy when Tortoise went walking around 10 am on this semi-holiday in southern Utah.  Semi-holiday because the actual holiday was yesterday, most of the celebrations were Saturday, but state and local government offices and the banks are closed today.  And Lou's office is in the middle of moving.  At the moment the next step is for Century Link to move the phone line to the new place so the office tech guy James can connect them there.  It was a good opportunity to get sweaty and walk somewhere he hasn't been in a few weeks.  Today's thought while walking was provided Ulisses Soares ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 249.  Ledge recently sent Tortoise a link to the new Quarry Trail in St. George.  This evening he checked it out for himself.  It packs a lot of scenery into its 0.7 mile round trip, which starts at the north end of 700 West where that street dead ends at a golf course.  Lou was hoping this would connect to the nearby trails in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, but apparently no.  So to complete today's activity, he drove to the Pioneer Hills trailhead parking lot and did part of the City Creek trail, including over 30 pictures.  Today's thought is by Neill Marriott ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 202.  Tortoise treated himself to a few moments of serenity near West Cinder Knoll as part of his walk up the office hill this evening.  It was an overcast evening, but for a few brief moments just past 8 pm the clouds and the sun put on a vibrant display of colors!  Lou is particularly fond of the color lines in the clouds shown above.  Walking thought today was by Russell Nelson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 149.  Tortoise took a welcome detour on his 6;15 walk this evening.  At the top of the hill near Valley Academy, he turned left instead of his usual right, heading up the West Cinder Knoll trail until he had gone a mile and two-thirds.   This put him near the spot pictured above.  After enjoying the view and taking a few pictures, he retraced his steps to complete his walk.   Tonight's walking thought was by Russell Nelson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 103.  Lou had an early dinner date with his Valentine, so he snuck in a mid-afternoon walk in crystal clear conditions and temperatures in the low 70s.  He worked up a sweat in his short sleeve shirt, a nice change of pace!  Tortoise chose to climb West Cinder Knoll on this fine day, the picture above is looking back from whence he came upon reaching the top.  Walking thought is by Henry Eyring, and you know there are more pictures where that one came from ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 1,057.  Tortoise walked another loop up the hill from his office on a cold, windy day following yesterday's snow flurries.  This picture tells the story of the goodness available less than a mile from Lou's office.  At first glance, it is simply a close-up of a small, delicate cactus.  You get the feel of being alone in a vast desert.  You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it to see these details, but not far away is a row of telephone poles.  That shows you how close it is to busy 600 North in Hurricane.  On the near hill is the city's trademark block H; to the right of that the gash in the ridge that allows Gould's Wash to pass through on its path from the mesa above to the Virgin River.  Behind this ridge is evidence of yesterday's snow on the peaks of the higher ridge beyond.  

There's more pictures of this walk to West Cinder Knoll, some of them worthy of the beautiful large coffee table picture book Lou dreams of compiling.  And then there's the day's walking thought by Ronald Rasband ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 1,012.  After a day of continuing education courses at Dixie State University on some of the tax changes this year, Tortoise walked up the hill to the new Red Hills Desert Garden, then continued up the initial hill of the T-Bone trail that starts there.  When Lou reached the junction with the Pioneer Hills trail in about a half mile from the Desert Garden and got some more pictures, he headed back down by way of Skyline Drive (the top of 200 East).  Today's walking thought is by Carlos Godoy ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 961.  Tortoise took advantage of a glorious shirtsleeves 62 degree afternoon to explore the Church Rocks Trail in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve before the weather turns again.  Lou accessed this trail from the top of Slick Rock Drive in Coral Canyon, using other trails for just under a mile to get to it.  He highly suggest good walking poles and shoes, and to allow a little extra time for trail finding as much of the way you are walking on rock and looking for the next trail marker pole, or even stacked rocks to know where to go.  The pictures from the extra bit of hill above the nearby Prospector Trail make it worth the extra effort.  Today's walking thought is by David Bednar ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 839.  Lou started out with the intent to explore the Church Rocks Trail today.  He parked his car at the Grapevine trailhead just north of exit 13 on Interstate 15 and headed up the Grapevine trail with the intent of then accessing the Church Rocks trail by way of the Prospector trail.  Tortoise got a phone call with an opportunity he was interested in about a half mile into the walk, so he turned around and left this planned walk for another day.  Later he took his brolly and did a LaVerkin walk in beckoning clouds that became intermittent rain.  With two walks in one day, you can be sure Lou had fun with his camera, come have a look ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 793.  Lou went exploring this evening.  Pictured above are the Pathfinder trail (right) and Cottonwood Canyon trail (left).  Tortoise took the right turn on a previous walk at almost exactly this time last year, so this evening he went left.  To see pictures of what he discovered along the way, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 751.  It was a near perfect evening for walking.  Last Monday and Tuesday there was steady rain, which cleaned everything up and added moisture to the sandy places.  This was followed by three days of warm, dry weather that eliminated the muddy spots.  Today the skies were a crystal clear blue.  So ... around 6 pm Lou headed out for a 10k loop walk.  Now you runners won't be impressed as he didn't set any speed records, but Tortoise did get some beautiful views along the full length of the Cottonwood Hills trail before returning to his starting trailhead by way of the Spanish Wash and Prospector trails.  There are lots of pictures today, so if you click below to continue reading, there is bound to be something that will catch your eye ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 698.  Lou had a couple evening appointments in St. George, when those were complete he parked in the Sunset Corners shopping center and started heading up the Highway 18 trail.  Sure, it's near the highway, but as the picture above illustrates, great effort has been taken to make it a nice walking experience, separate from the vehicle traffic.  For more of Tortoise's pictures, a map plus additional details, and the day's walking thought by Rosemary Wixom, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 683.  Lou took another stroll from his office up to the West Cinder Knoll trail.  Today's version included a straight shot up the east face, then meandering down in a loop.  Shown above is a view looking east towards part of Hurricane from the top.  For other Tortoise pictures, along with a map and other details of this walk, along with the day's walking thought by Dieter Uchtdorf, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!