Update: The End of a Journey

"I’m sure I can keep up on foot. I’ve done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once!"
- Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Well, folks, my "walking holiday" from summer is officially complete.

From the journal I've been keeping on my phone,
counting down the miles

A little over three months ago, I set out to walk 397 miles and today, at 5:37 pm, I made it to my goal!

“The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it’s known by a another name... Rivendell." - Gandalf, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Update: Nearing the celebration, facing the final challenges

"Going to Mordor!” Cried Pippin. "I hope it won’t come to that!" 

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

This past month, I've been trying hard to stay healthy and continue on my journey... however, the fires of Mt. Doom had another plan for me. In case you didn't know, Washington has been either surrounded by or on fire for the past month or so now. I wrote about it a bit in my last update, but the fires and smoke has continued. On September 5th, ash literally rained from the sky, the shadows all looked orange, and the sun looked blood red through the smoke. As a priest at a nearby parish actually mentioned: "...it looks like Mordor out there."

Looks about right...

Update: So close, yet so far...

 We're near the end of August, one week left until the month's end, and I'm both shocked at how much progress I've made and a bit disappointed at how much I still have left undone. I have walked 295.5 miles, meaning there's about 100 miles remaining on my journey.

Update: Halfway on the Journey to Rivendell!

The walk to Rivendell is 397 miles, making the halfway point a little over 198 miles. As of this morning, I hit 204 miles in my journey!

Home is Behind, The World Ahead

Discovery Park in Seattle

"Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, "A Walking Song" from The Lord of the Rings

This month has not gone as planned thus far. I knew that July was the month where I would have to push the hardest to make progress and I have discovered one truth that I wasn't quite planning for: walking takes a lot of time.

The Journey in June

“He began to say to himself: ‘Perhaps I shall cross the river myself one day.’
To which the other half of his mind always replied: ‘Not yet.’”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

After I made my vow to start this project, I wanted to get started right away, near the middle of June. However, I had a plan to travel and see family in at the end of the month, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to start intensely hiking and training.

Thus, I dubbed this period of my challenge “Shire Time,” which I decided was my time to start walking in moderate amounts and get a bit of conditioning going so the “journey to Rivendell” didn’t absolutely kill me. Given that I’d been spending the last few months of the rainy Seattle spring shockingly sedentary, a slow start I thought was probably a good idea.

One Does Not Simply Walk Off Second Breakfast

“In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Female hobbit from The Lord of the Rings

 “I’m not short. I’m just part Hobbit!” This has been a favorite quip of mine for a long time. As someone who is just a jot over five feet in height, I’m often loomed over by others. And as someone who is also loves tea, comfort, food, and stories of high fantasy, “hobbit” has always been my favorite identification rather than “kind-of-curvy-short-woman.”