Hiking Update: Still working on accomplishing 20-miler

I recently relocated to Philadelphia from Albuquerque, and while the hiking offers little in comparison to the mountains of the Southwest there are still many excellent opportunities to explore. Just this week I did a five-mile hike a section of the Orange Trial in the Wissahickon Gorge, located in northwest Philly. In the morning I will return to hike the trail's entirety, which is about seven miles*. And I will be paying close attention to time as I hike the gorge tomorrow as I'm still seeking a 20-mile route to finally complete the last requirement of the Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge.

Training hike along Wissahickon Gorge Orange Trail, east of Lincoln Drive

Those who follow this blog may have noticed that I've already outlined a couple of options along the way for my 20-miler - one, an urban hike in Albuquerque, and the other, a wilderness hike in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish those plans. The hike in Albuquerque didn't happen as a result of the dangerous pedestrian conditions the city has become notorious for, while the San Jacinto hike was scrapped after I did the upper portion of the trail and realized degree of difficulty would be an impediment to its safe completion, especially considering my current weight, still dangerously in the obesity zone.

I'm still researching options, but what I'm thinking I may do for the 20-mile hike is to hike from downtown Philadelphia through Fairmount Park East and into the gorge, doing a loop of the Orange and Yellow trails, then returning to Philadelphia via Fairmount Park West. I don't have an exact plan yet, but I will be posting one sometime during the next month as I continue to lose weight and train.

Over the winter I packed on 20 extra pounds, and I will need to take that weight off before considering such a long hike. In fact, my goal is to get my weight down below 260 pounds again. After losing 165 pounds a couple of years ago I made it to 255 pounds before slowly putting on weight again. Now I weigh between 280 and 290 pounds, and I have recommitted myself to achieving my goal of overcoming obesity by achieving a weight of less than 227 pounds.

Thanks for reading this blog and my two related blogs, MyFitLife2Day and HikeyHikey. Also, I welcome and invite all your comments. Either leave a comment below or Tweet me @MyFitLife2Day.

*NOTE: To reach the start of the Orange Trail for tomorrow's training hike I'll take the Broad Street Subway from South Philadelphia to Olney Transportation Center in North Philadelphia, a 30-minute ride. From Olney I will transfer to the L Bus, which heads west toward Plymouth Meeting, and I'll get off at Germantown Pike and Northwestern Avenue. The trailhead is just beyond the southeast side of the bridge that crosses over the Wissahickon Creek on Germantown Pike, east of Harpers Meadow and Dewees Rock. I'll hike the entire Orange Trail, including the old section on the east side of Lincoln Drive, which ends somewhere under the rail bridge along Ridge Avenue. At this point I'll catch the 27 bus back to the Broad Street line.

Hiking: 20 mile trip plan to complete merit badge requirements

I have accomplished all requirements for the Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge except one, which is to hike 20 contiguous miles in a single day. This summer I laid out on this blog an ambitious plan to hike 20 miles from Palm Springs to San Jacinto Peak and back to the upper tram terminal. After careful consideration, however, I have determined this is just not do-able considering my current weight and fitness level. I am still planning on working up to this amazing hike, but in the interest of checking this Hiking Merit Badge goal off of my to do list I have decided to make a new plan.

Old Town Albuquerque will be one of the sights along my 20-mile hike

Currently, I'm back in Albuquerque enjoying Balloon Fiesta week and supporting my partner Khizer as he completes his final two weeks of training for the Duke City Marathon. I thought I would take advantage of the beautiful and crisp fall days here at an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet to do my final 20 miler as an urban hike. As such, I have mapped out a suitable route using MapMyWalk.com and will plan to accomplish this hike Thursday, October 11.

I will start at Khizer's place here in Barelas and begin my hike by heading east, up Coal Avenue to Nob Hill. This first leg of the trip is three miles and has an approximate 300 foot elevation gain (the only true gain on the hike). I'll get some coffee at Starbucks and then head back down the hill via Central Avenue and follow it west through University Heights and Downtown all the way to the Rio Grande, nearly eight miles into my hike.

From there I will take the Paseo del Bosque Trail north for about four miles to Montano Road. At just over 12 miles into the hike I will stop to get lunch at Flying Star on Rio Grande, where Khizer will be working. It will be nice to see his smiling face as I'm more than halfway to my goal.

After lunch I will take Rio Grande Boulevard south, passing Central Avenue, and then take a network of local streets, including Tingley Drive, to Bridge Boulevard, at 18 miles. I will then go east on Bridge to Broadway, then north to Coal Avenue, then back west to 3rd, and finally south to arrive home at the 20-mile mark.

I estimate this hike will take about 10 hours, considering I will average a pace of between two and three miles per hour and take breaks whenever I find something interesting to look at and photograph - like balloons floating overhead, the gorgeous Rio Grande and cottonwood trees of the bosque, and of course Old Town.

I will wear plenty of sunscreen, wear my wide-brimmed hat and carry snacks and three liters of water (I'll need more but I'll be able to re-fill at the halfway point, so no problem).

Stay tuned for the hike report on Friday. Hmmmm, I wonder how I'll celebrate finally accomplishing this goal. Any suggestions?