2677 days ago
With the year closing out, I finally finished the 500 mile Klondike Challenge! My wife Penny finished in mid summer, but it took me a bit longer to get the mileage in, but it's done.
Because we both finished the challenge, we're invited to the "graduation party" to be held in January. I'm getting in touch with the parks people to find the proper place to send the donations raised for this effort and will post another update when the funds are transferred.
3023 days ago
Almost two weeks in and we've made decent progress on my 500 mile Klondike Challenge. So far I have recorded 25.9 miles of hikes and walks. Just 474 or so more to go.
Finding clear days to hike or walk has been challenging and we've gotten more done than I expected to a week ago. The hold up? El Nino...
In all of the time we've been in California it's been bone dry. Locals told us that winters are typically wet with frequent rains. Not last winter. There was hardly any rain at all. This year is different. The weather didn't just return to normal patterns, it's gone overboard. El Nino's cycle in every two to seven years and that typically means wet weather for California. We certainly need it.
We try to avoid hiking in the rain and would rather not walk in mud getting our boots caked. But we soldiered on and made a visit to Jack London State Historic Park this past weekend, logging a total of 10.3 miles. The extra pair of shoes we took along with us paid off and spared the car.
Our first real hike of the year was at nearby Sugarloaf Ridge State Park on January 2. There we tagged along with a guided hike part way up Bald Mountain before splintering off with a couple of other hikers who wanted to reach the summit. That allowed us to rack up almost 8.6 miles.
You can keep track of my hikes in parks on my Hiking Trailhead page. Logs there will include writeups, photos and track files. Walks around town and not in a specific park are logged on MapMyHike so I don't have to record anything elsewhere.
On the fundraising front we've reached $125 of our goal of $500. Any amount you can provide will help restore the trails at Jack London State Historical Park and would be greatly appreciated. Our recent trip to the park highlighted some things that could be done there.
Penny's sure to beat me in the Klondike Challenge as she logs a couple of miles a day just going to and from work. Here she is practicing her victory pose. Actually, she's here getting as high as possible at the summit of Bald Mountain.
See you on the trails!