'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 1,624 miles down and 155 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging 11 miles since my last update. I walked/jogged five miles on Saturday, three more on Wednesday and three more today (Friday). So far, I’ve logged 1,624 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 155 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about 91.3 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 20th day of the trip past Rauros Falls, which is March 15 on the Middle Earth calendar. I left off my last update on March 14 at Mile 1613, which was the point where Samwise Gamgee rescued Frodo from the top of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The next day begins at the same point as Frodo and Sam reach the gate of the tower around 5 a.m. Watchers send up a signal of their escape, prompting Frodo and Sam to run down the road, which curves out of sight from the gate.

 

One mile later, at Mile 1614, the road curves down sharply to meet the Morgul-road, and at the bridge, just beyond the road meeting, they jump. They land a few feet below in a thorn thick. It’s dawn, but dark in the valley.

 

One mile later, at Mile 1615, they climb down to the bottom of a north-running valley. One mile later, at Mile 1616, they halt briefly, and Sam falls asleep. Eventually, they turn north in the ravine and Frodo discards his chainmail as Sam wishes for light and water.

 

One mile later, at Mile 1617, Frodo senses the presence of a Black Rider, and they halt again as the sky brightens. They see the flight of the fallen Witch King, which is ill news for Barad-dur. It’s hear that they grab a bite to eat.

 

One mile later, at Mile 1618, they cross over to a path west of a dry streambed as the valley rises slowly to the north. Three miles later, at Mile 1621, they hear water trickling from a gully on the left. I’ve traveled three miles past this point, to Mile 1624, and the next significant milestone comes three miles later, at Mile 1627, where the road broads and a rough wall begins near an orc hold.

 

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.