365 Mile Hiking Challenge... Did I Make It??
While casually doom scrolling through social media I was given an ad for a 365 mile hiking challenge that if completed would net me a cool metal to proudly display. I clicked on the ad and looked through everything then decided to continue my scrolling. A few days later my wife mentioned an ad that she got about a 365 mile hiking challenge and it happened to be the same one as I had seen. After some discussion and another person tagging me in the comments for the ad, we decided to give it a try.
THE CHALLENGE
Let me start by saying that we did not start this challenge in January. We were starting late, sometime in the early spring, but felt confident that we could still complete this trail with ease. At this time we were regularly hiking on trails that were about 5 miles long, and figured that a few weekends of hiking on both Saturday and Sunday we could complete this no sweat.
THE RULES
The rules for this yearly competition are pretty straight forward. You must hike at least 1 mile for it to count towards your total. If a trail is less than a mile, you are allowed to hike it multiple times and use the total. You have to submit your downloaded completed form to the designated administrator before getting your certificate of completion. Lastly, the system is set up on an honor system, no one will be checking in to see if you are actually hiking them.
IT BEGINS
In the beginning we continued to hike as normal exploring different locations around Baton Rouge like the BREC parks. The highland park soon became a regular of ours because it was close by and offered two different trails. One trail is a paved loop that is about a ⅔ of a mile so you do have to make quite a few loops but it is still a great place to go right after a rainy day. The second trail is much longer and stretches around the park. The park doubles as an ultimate frisbee course and the outer trail weaves around the course so keep your head on a swivel.
Another favorite trail of mine located in the Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area. This area is protected and regulated so that the local wildlife is able to thrive. You can also hunt during certain parts of the year so be on alert in the cooler months and wear bright colors (like hunters orange) to stay safe. Tunica Hills has numerous trails that follow and cross a mostly dried up riverbed. My favorite trail is about 3.5 miles and has some great picturesque scenery.
Part of the riverbed still has flowing water depending on the amount of rainfall.
Clark Creek in Mississippi has lots of waterfalls and is another frequent stop of ours. This trail can be anywhere from a few miles to up to 5-10 miles if you hike the entire primitive trail loop.
Once the cooler weather started to come around we attempted some of the longer trails like one in Shreveport Louisiana at Eddie D. Jones State Park. I don't remember the actual name of the trail but we nicknamed it the Monkey trail. Fun fact: there is a monkey sanctuary near the 10 mile trail and your hike may be blessed by monkeys screeching.
Another favorite of our heavy mileage trips was when we traveled to Big Bend National Park. We were able to clock a lot of miles while experiencing some of the most amazing desert scenery.
Once we returned from Big Bend it was near the end of November and I had logged 245 miles. I was a little surprised I haven't hit the 300 mile mark yet. This felt daunting since I would need to walk 2 miles a day for the last two months in order to complete the challenge. I was a little disappointed in my progress but my wife on the other hand was determined. She had been making smaller hikes around the neighborhood so her log hovered at just above 300 miles.
THE RESULT…
The end of the year approached and BIG QUESTIONS … Did I make it? Did I complete the challenge?…. Sadly no. Unfortunately I got too tied up with longer work hours and shorter amounts of daylight. I know I'm making excuses, had I committed by planning better, mapping out more hikes on the weekends, or walking more shorter hikes, I could proudly say that I rose to the challenge.
Still, I'm not mad. I don’t feel disappointed. I got to see a lot of amazing, different, and unique places. If anything, I'm more motivated for next time. I won't miss the mark.
P.s. My wife did it. She walked 365.3 miles! Go Wife!
