standing among the sunflowers

[329] standing among the sunflowers, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

perfect partners

perfect partners, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

my shadow guides me

[328] my shadow guides me, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

late afternoon sun
shines directly in my eyes
i have to turn to see
my shadow there behind

we walk for miles
my shadow and me
in silence
without words

the path turns north
my shadow
walks beside me on the right

its not until i see
my shadow there in front
that i know its not far now
my shadow guides me home

-- Mike B

near sunset

[327] near sunset, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

champion of the world

[324] champion of the world, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

well, maybe not champion... but second place... not bad! yesterday was the last day of a month-long health challenge where i work. exercise, nutrition and prevention were all factors in the challenge. 295 teams signed up. some teams had several members. most teams were one-person teams. i was a one-person team. when the challenge first started my pledge was to hike 8 miles every tuesday and thursday after work. it became obvious early on that would not be enough if i wanted to actually be a contender, so i changed my strategy to hiking at least 8 miles every day for the entire month of august. at the beginning of the month it took me about 2.25 hours to complete 8 miles. by the end of the month i had improved my pace to less than 2 hours to complete 8 miles. i also increased my mileage from 8 to 10 miles a day. on the final day, i tallied 12 miles! an added benefit of this month-long challenge is that i lost 6 pounds.

in orienteering and hiking, your pace is very important. if you have a consistent pace, you can accurately measure distance between points. to determine your pace: [01] measure off a quarter-mile distance [many trails have marker posts every quarter-mile]; [02] hike the distance between those markers, count your steps -- every time your right foot hits the ground add one; [03] record your steps at the end of the quarter-mile; [04] multiple by 4 -- 4 quarters in a mile]; [05] divide 5280 by the number you calculated in step 4 -- 5280 feet in a mile; [06] the resulting number is your pace.

using this formula, on moderately level ground [some slight elevation changes], i hike 255 steps in a quarter-mile, 1020 steps in a mile, therefore my pace is 5.176. using this pace i can measure just about any trail. you don't have to count the whole time you're hiking. just count the first quarter of a mile. make a note of the number of steps and the amount of time it took you to hike that distance. when you're finished with your hike, make a note of how much time the entire hike took and do the math.

overgrown

overgrown, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

most of the time these trails are very well maintained. fallen trees removed from the path. overgrowth trimmed away. but this summer has been atypical. many of the trails are overgrown. that's fine on less-traveled paths, but these trails get a lot of use by hikers, bikers and horse-riders. i can't tell you how many times i've had to step off the trail to let a horse or a bike pass. on sections of the trail like this one it becomes an issue. since i am a barefoot hiker, i don't especially want to step off into the unknown. poison ivy. thorns. chiggers. snakes.

late afternoon light

late afternoon light, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

it is amazing to me that each time i venture out into the parks and natural areas near where i live, i make new discoveries and find trails or sections of trails that i have not hiked before. this section of trail really caught my attention. bathed in afternoon sunlight, the colors were awesome. this image doesn't do it justice.

the downside

[315] the downside, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

barely standing

barely standing, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

during the rainy season this is a very wide stream.... but not today.