by Diana Google
My goal for my 80th birthday, on July 20, 2024, was to have hiked 800 miles during the year.
By June 18 I had hiked 796.2 miles. Then I stopped so I could share the 800th mile with my sister Sharon in the Swiss Alps.
On June 25 we got off the gondola at Schreckfeld and started on the trail towards Scheidegg. Wildflowers colored the hillsides.
The snow-encrusted peaks of the Wederhorn, Jungfrau, and Eiger rose above the trail. I kept an eye on my mileage. Suddenly I stopped.
“The 800th mile!” I cried. Sharon congratulated me and took pictures.
That night she raised a toast to me at our hotel.
By July 10, I had hiked 856.3 miles on 90 different trails. I invited everyone who had hiked any of those miles with me to join me for brunch at the Jacksonville Inn on Sunday, July 21.
On July 15 my son, Ela, came down from Washington to hike with me and help me prepare for the party. We created a chart of my hikes, one axis showing the chronology, the other the distance, each entry naming the trail and the people with me. I added notes: “Downed trees!” “Swim!” “Skied this trail.”
We mounted photos from the hikes and pinned them to the wall of the patio at the restaurant. We displayed a large poster Sharon had sent me of my victorious moment at the 800th mile (see below). It was a wonderful party.
Here are the stats from the year.
Total number of hikes: 145
Total miles: 868.3
55 hiking partners
70 solo hikes
Person who hiked the most miles with me: Cheryl Bruner (306 miles)
Person who traveled the longest distance to be at the party: Traci Esslinger, from LA
90 different trails (40 in the Applegate, 10 in the Rogue Valley, others elsewhere in Oregon and in Switzerland)
Swims in 16 different lakes, rivers, and creeks
Longest hike: 80 miles in 10 days (Lower Rogue River trail)
Steepest hike: Bort to Waldspitz, Swiss Alps, 1643 feet in one mile
Longest descent: Männelichen to Grindelwald, 4295-foot descent in 9 miles
Highest elevation: Ice Lake, in the Wallowa Mountains of eastern Oregon, 7980 feet.
Biggest disappointment: Car trouble that waylaid my birthday hike.
