48 State Virtual Hike: Miles 533.2 to 542.3

Total Miles: 542.3
Miles Today: 9.08
7 mile day streak: 14
Map waypoints: M to N
Google Map

This morning I was planning on wearing my Red Wing boots. But my Mountain Lights were calling to me. They felt a little stiff when I put them on. It has been awhile since I wore them. Once I started walking they loosened right up and felt good.

I'll need to get a rotation going with my boots and shoes.My thinking is that each pair of boots/shoes would create its own problems if I wore them everyday. By rotating through a different pair each day it may help prevent overuse injuries. Time will tell.

On the way out the door, I spoke to Allen. He walks his dog around the neighborhood every morning and a few times through the day. Always at a relaxed pace. I've seen him for years, but have never done anything but wave to him. He goes out in all types of weather.

This morning I finally spoke to him. He is a real nice guy. He has been walking his dogs for 18 years. Today he was walking his Huskie. He has one or two other dogs. He mentioned a dog he really enjoyed. A big grey dog with a breed name I can't remember.

It was foggy this morning. I enjoy fog a lot. Today it will likely burn off early and then get warm. I enjoyed walking in it while I had the chance.

As I walked I was pondering the blog design. I just discovered how to put tabs at the top. Now I need to decide what tabs I want.

It can be easy to work in 7 miles a day in a series of shorter walks. I find spreading the miles out gives the about same training as doing them all at once. The time is hardly noticeable this way.

Anyway, I was out for one of these shorter walks thinking about "The Plan" tab on top. I realized I wasn't paying attention to things around me so I reminded myself to do that. I looked up and there was a squirrel eating in a tree right in front of me. It was kind enough to pose for a picture. It did not chatter at me like squirrels often do.

Usually I do not like to have a ton of pictures. But my son and I found this little canyon a couple miles from home. We hiked about 1.7 miles in it. I would just like to save these pictures for myself.

Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the way it is in real life. It is a really nice area to hike.

The winds were calm when we started. By the time we got done, they were 32 gusting to 47. That is Colorado for you. We stopped and ate lunch along the walk back. The area was quiet except for the planes that went over.