The finish line of this year’s personal hiking challenge is getting closer. On January 1, 2021, I began to walk toward a goal of hiking 2,021 miles during the calendar year of 2021. Using my rusty, dusty calculator, I knew I needed to walk 39 miles each week to accomplish the goal. But before I took my first step, I also knew I wanted to finish before I had to rely on the unpredictable weather of December to provide the checkered flag. So, I have been trying to accumulate a few miles over the minimum of 39 each week in hopes to finish early or at least to provide a cushion against a bad weather week or two.
Week 39 (September 17 – 23) of the challenge was a good week. I managed to dance around a few days of rain and to maximize the nice, sunny days ending up with 53.1 miles. Most of my miles this week were neighborhood walks. I have developed several 5-mile loops around Springboro so that I don’t get bored with the same route every day. I enjoy taking a morning walk and then one later in the day to spread out the adventure. I was able to take one nice long hike along a bike trail this week starting at Medlar Park, walking along the river, and ending in Franklin (and back again). This sunny walk revealed the coming of fall as some of the color is turning to the interesting browns and gray of autumn.
I was able to break through the 1900-mile marker during week 39, finishing the week with just over 1,908 accumulated miles. That leaves a tad over 112 miles to complete to challenge. The weather looks good for next week, so I am hoping to schedule some good hikes during week 40 and then to celebrate the finish line sometime in mid-October (Lord willing). God is faithful.
Hike It Forward 
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