In my imagination, I am writing this from Site #6, Muleshoe Campground. It is an unseasonably warm afternoon in mid-May - low to mid-80s - and I've just returned to camp from an area on the northwestern slope of Sutton Mountain - "Cougar Creek," I call it, and it's probably my most favorite place in all of Oregon. In reality, it is late January here in Olympia, temperature in the low 30s and raining. Get me outtta here!!!
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Back in October I set out “walking” from Olympia to Muleshoe Campground on the John Day River in Oregon. According to Google Maps, that’s a distance of 289 miles. The idea, was I’d track my daily mileage statistics as recorded on my Apple watch while I went about the serious business of recovering as much as possible from a couple strokes I suffered in August.
When I began this imaginary hike, I couldn't physically walk more than a quarter mile; my Apple watch, in its own mysterious way put my total energy output for an average day at under a full mile. I calculated it would probably be late May before I (virtually) rolled into the campground. But I’ve made a game out of staying active as much as possible, and it's brought me back fast. I've closed in on the campground at a somewhat faster rate than I ever anticipated, and by the end of the day today I’ll have covered (according to my watch) more than 290 miles! That works out to an average of close to 3 miles a day. For all intents and purposes, I have arrived.
It’ll be at least a couple more months before I can actually head for a real campground anywhere, and I'm still not in great shape; so, I think I’ll continue the virtual-hiking routine and see where it lands me by April 1st. That’s a couple months out, and I’m going to make the south campground at Steens Mountain my next virtual destination. That’s only an additional 217 miles, so I should be “there” by the end of February -- or maybe even earlier, if I can get that daily energy consumpton average up from 3 to 4 miles per day.