'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 1,579 miles down and 200 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging nine more miles since my last update. I walked/jogged three miles on Wednesday, three more miles on Friday and three more miles yesterday (Saturday). So far, I’ve logged 1,579 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 200 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about 88.8 percent of the total trip.

 

In relation to Frodo Baggins’ overall journey to destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom in Mordor, I’m on the 16th day of the trip past Rauros Falls, which is March 11 on the Middle Earth calendar. I left off my last update on March 14 at Mile 1570, which was one mile beyond where Frodo, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum cross a small stream. One mile later, at Mile 1571, they reach an area of large trees. Here it’s more open with ash and oak, and Gollum grows fearful.

 

Six miles later, at Mile 1577, dusk falls as they reach the end of the forest. Here they can see the White Mountains to the west and the dark peaks of the Ephel Duath to the east. A vale falls away before them – the Morgul. Gollum wants to continue on, but they stop traveling until midnight. Perched in an oak, the hobbits cannot sleep.

 

Just past midnight, they begin to head east. The land here slopes up steeply and they encounter thickets and brambles. I’ve traveled two miles past this point, to Mile 1579, and it’s hear that the group crosses a deep cleft. The next significant milestone comes two miles later, at Mile 1581, where the group has to go around a dark pit.

 

For those of you reading this for the first time, I began this “Walk to Mordor” fitness challenge on Jan. 1, 2015. Using a book called “The Atlas of Middle-Earth” by Karen Wynn Fonstad, fans of “The Lord of the Rings” created this challenge by mapping out Frodo’s fictional trek to Mordor, calculating the total distance at 1,779 miles. They also used the original "Lord of the Rings" text to outline the journey, so you can follow their route by keeping up with your total mileage.

 

The folks who worked out the nuts and bolts of this virtual journey have divided it into four parts. It’s 458 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell, 462 miles from Rivendell through Moria to Lothlorien, 389 miles from Lothlorien down the Anduin to Rauros Falls and 470 miles from Rauros to Mount Doom. (Those locations should sound very familiar to “Lord of the Rings” fans.) The hobbits averaged 18 miles a day, but if you walk (or jog, as I sometimes do) five miles a day, it’s possible to cover 1,779 miles in a year.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about the “Walk to Mordor Challenge,” I suggest you check out two Web sites, http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/23/walking/ and http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/. Both of these sites provide a ton of details about the challenge, including how to get started.

 

In the end, check back next Friday for another update and to see how much closer I am to Mordor. I hope to knock out at least 10 more miles next week, and I’ll include all that in my update next week.