Today we passed 3000 hiking miles since January, 2012

Thanks to Mr. Garmin, we have been able to keep a record, down to the hundredths of a mile (a little obsessive, I know), of our hiking since we left on Road Trip 1 in mid-January of 2012, about three months shy of six years ago.

On today's hike we achieved 3000 miles. 

The following chart shows how far we could have gotten if we had hiked that many miles from our home in one direction.  We would have been able to hike to every spot in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii (assuming we can walk on water, although that gig has already been taken by someone else):

 Like I said, even to Hawaii.  And we've both wanted to go to Hawaii.  (but that's sort of doing it the hard way).

We have also accumulated, during that time, since January 2012, 11782 cycling miles.  Here is where we could have cycled to (assuming, once again, we can cycle over water) in the past six years if we had cycled in the same direction from our home:

That is everywhere in the world except a small area in the Indian Ocean.  And wouldn't you know it, but that's one place both of us have wanted to visit. 

Add our hiking and cycling miles together and we could have reached everywhere in the world.

We are trying to wrap our brains around that fact.  We are failing.

Here is another fact relevant only to us:  Adding our hiking and cycling, if we had continued in the same direction toward the moon, we would have been  6/100ths of our way there.  If we can keep going at our pace we will arrive there in only 92 years.  We have decided to try.

Ok, enough.

Here we are celebrating 3000 hiking miles:  We wanted to get to a cool place at that point, so planned our hike accordingly.  We are in the Bears Ears National Monument, a stunningly beautiful place.

As tradition, we brought a small bottle of wine.  Here is Vicky pouring us glasses to celebrate:

Also, as tradition, we forgot to bring plastic wine glasses, so are using the tops of Pam sprays.  They worked fine except, as we discovered, they have a small hole in them.  So, here we are trying to take a sip of wine while it is dripping all over us and all over Bears Ears National Monument.

We sure know how to celebrate, don't we?

Here is our blog entry celebrating 2000 hiking miles  (in the SheepHole Mountains of Southern California):

And 1000 hiking miles (in Big Bend National Park, Texas):


Here we are on our first hike, January 20, 2012.  At that time we had no idea this 5-mile hike was the first 5 miles of 3000:

I wrote this in our blog when we reached 2000 hiking miles.  I can't express it any better:

• "We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy the outdoors in as close to its uncontaminated form as is possible, in these far too brief years of people's lives when they are retired but their bodies are in adequate shape for this kind of endeavor.  We both know that given our ages that can change literally and figuratively in a heartbeat, so we celebrate each day, each camp spot, and each hike"

Our hiking and cycling miles were not actually a goal, but instead are the result of our goal, which is to move our  bodies on a consistent basis.   Our average hike in the past six years is 5.3 miles, nothing real great.  Our average cycling ride is only a bit over 20 miles.  

Instead of accumulating miles, our two major goals are (1) to work our bodies at least an hour on 2/3 of our days, and (2) to average 1 1/2 hours per day of working our bodies over the course of the year.  "Working our bodies" includes such activities as hiking, cycling, dancing, playing ping pong, mowing our lawn, cutting and hauling firewood, etc.  We have met these goals some years, and just missed other years (usually our "misses" are because of age-related physical issues). 

We have seen so much of our wonderful country in the past six years through our hiking.

Virtually every mile has been through areas which (and this is important) we all own.

We share ownership.  What am amazing idea---everywhere we have hiked is a place where we have partial ownership with YOU, with every other American!  We share the land we hike on with people of all races, genders, gender identities, political affiliations, religions beliefs, family structures, etc.  This public land is something we all have in common, and should celebrate. 

We hope you will come and join us and see for yourself the land that we all own.  What other country on the planet has so much beautiful land that belongs to all of us?

Rest day/Dance day in the Bears Ears National Monument

When we get to a camping and hiking area we like, we can just "live" in the area for up to two weeks or so.  

This has been our experience so far this year at Bears Ears National Monument.  Last week we found a very nice camping spot, and took five hikes from there.  Saw some real beauty.  The camping spot was off of a seldom-used road, so we had maybe 10 vehicles a day passing us.  That's a lot of solitude.

Our first camping spot in Bears Ears National Monument:

On one of our hikes we located a 4WD road off of the road we were camped on, and then a small spur off of that 4WD road.  And as we walked the spur we figured we could get safely get the camper to the end of it.  At one time someone had made a camping spot there, complete with something really cute and fun---a child's campfire ring.  Some kid had a great time there within the past five or so years. 

(you can see the large adult camp ring in this photo, and the small child's one in the foreground):

So after our fifth hike from our first camping spot, we packed up and carefully drove to this new camping spot we had found.  

It is one of the best we have ever had.  We've been here about two days and nights now, and haven't even heard another vehicle.  So quiet and dark at night.  

For the fun of it, Vicky went out the top escape hatch of the camper and took 360 degree photos of our site.  

Here they are:  North, South, East, and West:

About every fifth day in a row of hiking we take a rest day.  Our "senior" bodies need it by this time.  Often we use rest days for travel, but since we didn't have to travel more than two miles to this new campsite, we used this rest day....

TO DANCE!!!!

It wasn't the best outdoor surface we had ever found to dance on, but it was OK.  It was uneven, dusty, and not really level.  The trick is to play dance music that is a little slower than our usual music, since we have to pick up our feet on this type of surface (instead of sliding like we do on a dance floor).

One reason I like dancing in places like this is that I don't have to worry about anybody cutting in.  😊

We danced for an hour.  It was fun.  Our camper has two external speakers built into it, so music is easy to produce.....and we don't have to worry about bothering anybody with our 1980s schmaltzy music (Lady in Re-e-e-e-e-e-e-d is dancing with me-e-e-e-e, cheek to cheek.......)

And Vicky made a beef stew. 😋

Can you imagine sitting outside all day in a place like this, sipping a glass of wine, then dancing, and then eating this type of meal?  We are really roughing it, aren't we?

Camping/HIking in Bears Ears National Monument: Blanding, UT. WE SPEND MONEY HERE

For the past several days we have been camping and hiking in Bears Ears National Monument, a National Monument established by President Obama and one that is under threat from "President" Trump.

The closest town to Bears Ears is Blanding, Utah.  To do what we are doing here will require two or three trips into Blanding TO SPEND MONEY THERE.  Got it?  Money?  Tourism is the best use of our public lands.

Protect Bears Ears!!!!

The camper can be seen (if you have really good eyes) far in the distance:

Dan doing foot surgery:

We reached a huge, flat area high on a mountainside.

See the tree growing out of the rock?

Close up.

Trying to get a photo together.  The shutter released before Vicky got to her spot.  It wasn't the kind of place where it was wise to move too quickly, so we made several tries.



But we finally got it!!!

When you don't have Wellingtons: How to cross streams while looking rather silly (but it's fun!)

 

What do you do when you are in the desert and have to cross a flooded road?  We walked all around it to find another route, but couldn’t.  The foliage was too dense.  If we had just walked through the water our shoes and boots would have become hopelessly muddy.  

Solution?  You create cheapo Wellington’s.

The key, if you are planning on stealing our brilliant idea, is to use trash compactor bags, not regular trash bags.  Trash compactor bags are much thicker.  We use trash compactor bags on road trips because regular trash bags tear easily when brushed against bushes or stones.

While crossing the stream, I told Vicky that she looked like Pecos Bill. Don't you agree?  

 Vicky:

 

 Pecos Bill:

And what did I look like, you might ask?  

How about an idiot?

After using them, all one does is air them out, brush them off, refold them, and they are available for the next flooded area that must be crossed.

 Here are some other photos of the hikes we took from our spot at Mile 150 of the Moab 240.  Sometimes we were on gravel roads, sometimes on 4WD roads, sometimes on trails, sometimes on old mining roads, and sometimes we were just walking across country.  A little of everything.

The camper is in the middle of this photo, in the distance.