The Birthday Hikes - 1

The Birthday Hikes

January 1^st; a new year, a new beginning, a time to make the world a better place, a chance to make ourselves a better person.  New Year’s resolutions; it just seems that a new year resolution of some sort should be in order.  After all, we did stay up past 12:00 PM last night and I would like to think that it was for something more than just to join in the countdown while we watched a big glass ball slowly descend into the New Year.

While I’m not against New Year’s resolutions, I rarely make them.  I’m healthy, I’m retired, I’m happily married, “I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls who do”.  Things in general are going pretty good for me, so why challenge myself with a resolution to do anything better and risk falling on my face around late January or February when I manage to break that resolution?

Having said that, I think that I will make a resolution this year anyway.  Yes, I remember an article I read in the Arizona Republic a few weeks ago by Roger Naylor, “Hiking 1,000 miles: Goal is reached in Cottonwood”  .  http://www.azcentral.com/travel/articles/20131227hiking-miles-goal-reached-cottonwood.html.  

Roger had set a goal of hiking 1000 miles during the 2013 year, and managed to finish his goal on Dec 27^th.

My wife’s cousin Chris, set a similar goal to hike at least 100 miles each month during the year 2013.  As of Dec  28^th he had logged 950 miles; not too shabby.

Now for me logging 1000 miles in one year seems a bit aggressive.  I have done it in previous years, and I may yet do it yet again, but today I look at that goal and say, “I’m retired, …why”?  None the less, the challenge is appealing, so I think that I will modify the goal somewhat and make a “Birthday Hike” resolution.  That would be to hike ten miles per each year of my tender life such that by the end of the year I would have hiked 740 miles; that’s right, I will be 74 years old sometime during the year of 2014, and at my advanced age, that is a doable goal without a great sacrifice of time or energy.

Just a note about some of the mileage notations that I introduce each day with.  You will notice that I include today’s “Hike” mileage, the “Total Miles” accumulated miles of my Birthday Hikes, and “Today’s Dog Sniff” miles.  We have two Shih tzu dogs and we take them out for a walk both morning and evening; a walk that ranges anywhere from one-half mile to three miles, it really depends on what the dogs want to do.  Because they are more interested in sniffing every bush, post and corner than walking, I am not including this mileage in my daily Birthday Hike miles, but I just want you to know that the rest of my day consists of more than just sitting on the back patio watching the sun traverse across the sky.  Besides I am not above including some of those “Today’s Dog Sniff” miles just to keep up with my quest.  Any port in a storm you know.

 So, to begin:

Wed, Jan 1, 2014

Hike:                                      4 miles
Total Miles:                             4 miles
Today’s Dog Sniff:                  2 miles   

               

To start off my Birthday Hike I am going to hike Silly Mountain, a small local mountain with only a 377 foot elevation.  Now before you start Oooooing and Awwwing I didn’t say these hikes would be difficult hikes, but Silly Mountain has a lot to offer.  There are multiple trails around the mountain and you can easily put on three miles while walking a variety of these trails from the 0.4 mile easy Brittle Bush Trail to the more difficult Huff and Puff at 0.2 miles.  Put all the trails together and you can get in a good three mile morning hike and still have time to go to breakfast at one of the local eateries.

Being New Year's Day, there were a lot of hikers out, from older couples just out working off some of their holiday weight gain, or the young family with kids in tow, to the more aggressive hikers who dress in the tight lycra and run up and down the trails as if they were late for dinner; “Macho Macho Man, I’ve got to be a Macho Man”

(http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-w3i&p=Macho%20Macho%20Man&type=W3i_TB,221,0_0,Search,20130729,0,0,6,7635)

One thing I like about hiking Silly Mountain is that you often meet some very interesting people, and the trails are such that most of them will stop and talk with you.  I will be adding some of my past experiences and conversations I have had on my various hikes on Silly Mountain as the year goes on.

As for today, it was a good hike, a good start, and I hope you will join me in reading my daily or perhaps weekly posts.  Perhaps we may even meet along the trail.  If so please stop and say hello.