[at-l] Year End Summary

[ATnavi@aol.com (ATnavi@aol.com)]

Ok, so you made me look. I'm not a statistician in my normal life, but it 
just so happens that a couple of us have been keeping track of trail miles 
this year...

Solar Bear has been my hiking partner for much of the year's adventures. 
Together, we completed a 360-mile section hike of the Florida Trail in 
September, with 201.5 miles walked between January 1 and the end of 
September. Since I'm working on a hiking book on Central Florida's trails, we 
kept walking...he and others have joined me for another 333.8 miles of hikes 
measured with a measuring wheel from mid-August thru this past Sunday. 

Add on another estimated 30 miles in Colorado and Utah, and 35 or so of 
random hikes done for fun, trail maintenance, or hiking articles, and I can 
claim more than 600 miles of hiking this year. That's big time for me, since 
I've worked full time the entire year, and written three books in my "spare" 
non-hiking time. ;-)

Only one overnighter, which is a shame. (Although I camped out more than 
that, it was car camping, truth be told). Quite a few backpacking trips were 
planned but got bollixed up due to illness, getting lost on the trail, 
forgetting important gear like hiking shoes, not having a tent 
available...you name it.

High points: Seeing the west for the first time. To have my only overnighter 
be in Rocky Mountain National Park isn't a bad thing. ;-)  Hiking with 
Nimblewill Nomad was pretty darn cool, too, although it was a hot day and 
it's damn tough keeping up with his pace.

Cheers, Navigator