'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 1,588 miles down and 191 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging six miles since my last update. I walked/jogged three miles on Saturday and three more on Wednesday. So far, I’ve logged 1,588 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 191 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about 89.3 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 16 at Mile 1582, which was on mile beyond where Frodo, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum traveled around a dark pit. One mile later, at Mile 1583, they go down a bit, then up on a longer, steeper slope.

 

Two miles later, at Mile 1585, they halt briefly at a spot where they can see the treetops behind them as darkness begins to spread. Two miles later, at Mile 1587, the climb a great “hogback,” climb a steep backslope, covered with spiny thickets. They then descend the even steeper cliff face. Part way down, they crawl into a “hollow hall” form by a “tangled knot of thorns” and sleep.

 

Gollum wakes Frodo and Sam around 4 p.m. on what is known as the “Dawnless Day.” No only is there no dawn, but the day grows even darker as time passes. Gollum tells them there is “no time to lose” and leads them down the hillside. I’ve covered one mile beyond this point, to Mile 1588, and the next significant milestone comes one mile later, at Mile 1589, where they turn south across a long, broken slope.

 

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.