1606 from Bag End to Mt. Doom sounds about right, Alatáriël; but now remember that we'll already be at Rivendell. So we don't have to go to Rivendell *again*. (Phew...)

The Encyclopedia of Arda has this to say:

Note the phrase "roughly 1200 miles". Alatariel, if you figured 1606 from Bag End to Mount Doom, then we can subtract Rivendell from that-- right?-- and we get:

1606 - 458 = 1148 from Rivendell to Mt. Doom.

Which is not that far off from 1200.

(And they did it in 3 months or 92 days, which works out to about 12.5 or 13 miles per day.)

I doubt we could do it in three months [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] in winter [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] but if we give ourselves some time, it sure would be fun.

Fun, did I say? What will we do for the Mordor section?!? Yeeek!

Rae has a point about the extended date, though. What about the release of the Collectors' Edition Video, which will probably be sometime in November 2004? Or even, Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, 22 September 2004?

At that rate we could keep up our current paces, more or less. 2 or 3 miles a day.

[ May 12, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

Does that exclude winter? I hope so, don't want to find frozen elves or hobbits strewn about. It would be rather discouraging. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Good gracious! So many people have been doing plenty of walking...I'm feeling I've been rather lazy. (And it's yet another cold and rainy Monday, with more rain tomorrow!)

Glad to hear your back Raefindel and that you survived Mother's Day. But I'm assuming that the grueling time at work was holiday related. (I've once had worked at a greenhouse during Mother's Day...never seen so many geraniums!) [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I just did the Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV) in Ohio on my bicylce. Now that would usually be 210 miles, but because of the excessive winds and stormy weather, I was only able to complete 120 miles. Tha puts me a little past Tom Bombadil's house in the.... BARROW DOWNS!!! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Serious kudos! Put the mileage under "FROM" in your profile!

Are some folks forgetting to do that or do folks not know how, or just not want to? Not wanting to is fine; if you don't know how, it's in your profile under "View/Update Profile." Not hard to do.

It makes it easier for me to update the list in the first post. It's getting so long, I update it less frequently!

I love the idea of walking to Rivendell. And thinking about it I have to decided to also run the distance that Legolas, Gimli, and my favorite person...Aragorn!when they were following Merry, Pippin and the Uruk-Hai. I figured out that it's about 155 miles and I want to try to do it in the 4 days that they took.. I'm going to have to do it in the summer when I have nothing to do and found out that I must finnish 39 miles a day... My sister Ilsanie says that because I am 3/4 thier size I should shoot for doing it in 6 or 7 days because it will put a real strain on my body but I WILL do it [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] .. what can I say I'm a real stuburn person... [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Wish me luck...

The newest member as of 9:39, May 12th

LOTR Master
No I do not need all of the mental therapy that you think I do [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Wow I just came back from a walk and relized how out of shape I am.. ughhh... but I guess as I go on it will be easier.... I still have a ways to go till the next land mark...12.53 miles to be exact but I have benn doing almost a mile at school so that lessens the load...By the end of the school year I wil have ummm 31 miles that I did just by walking from class to class... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] wow that feels good... well I gtg to bed just checking in....


Ilsanie

[ May 18, 2003: Message edited by: Ilsanie ]

It would definitely have to be an extended date. I'd like to say that I'd meet Frodo and Sam at Mt. Doom on March 25, but I'm not sure I could make it by then (maybe if I could float down the river rather than walking??). I think that Frodo and Bilbo's birthday would be a reasonable date to strive for. (I agree Helen, let's NOT go back to Bag End and start again.)

1148 miles...piece of cake. At least we won't have Black Riders and orcs chasing us (not to mention Gollum).

Hilde, I alluded to my Flower shop experience in the "when spring unfolds the Beechen Leaf" thread, but simply put; I got canned.

I'm happily unemployed once again. My kids are very relieved. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

(Oops, got so carried away with the Walk to Mt. Doom that I forgot the Rivendell part.)

Aaah!! The Bald Hill at last! The view is a bit hazy from up here. I can see some smoke away off in the distance. Must be Tom's house. Either that, or Old Man Willow is on fire. Maybe someone needs to call the Withywindle VFD to check it out.

--------------------
The sun on the hill-top was now getting hot. It must have been about eleven o'clock; but the autumn haze still prevented them from seeing much in other directions. In the west they could not make out either the line of the Hedge or the valley of the Brandywine beyond it. Northward, where they looked most hopefully, they could see nothing that might be the line of the great East Road, for which they were making. They were on an island in a sea of trees, and the horizon was veiled.

LOTRMASTER02, welcome! Enjoy the Road to Rivendell! We **are** having fun, I must say.

And as far as running across Rohan-- wow, that's extremely ambitious. It's over a marathon a day. I'm not sure ANYONE has ever done that, without genuine Lothlorien-baked lembas anyway!

How are you planning to go about this? You do know the difference between muscular pain and joint pain, right? And the warning signs for respiratory distress, heat stroke & sunstroke, and all that? Do you have a coach or trainer? I'd ask some experts before I went ahead and risked injury or worse.

Please be very careful and get somebody to help you plan your running. I'd rather see you take extra time to do it, and stay out of the hospital! If you did it over several weeks, you'd still have an accomplishment to be extremely proud of.

In the meantime, enjoy walking with the rest of us!

When I laugh this hard at work, people want me to "share the forward." But nobody here will get this. Too bad!

Chortle, chortle, chortle. Snort, chortle....

[ May 13, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

About the walk to Mt. Doom... Sorry to be a persnickety hobbit, but I really do think September 22nd 2005 is more realistic, and rather a nice number too! I can’t see doing over 600 miles per year and still keeping any semblance of a normal life (unless driving counts [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]).

[ May 13, 2003: Message edited by: Hilde Bracegirdle ]

It sounds worse than it is. If you do it in one year, then it's
1148 / 365 = 3.1 miles/ day which isn't too bad.
But if you want to do it in 2 years, then
600 miles per year / 365 days/year = roughly 1.6 miles/ day, which is less than what we are shooting for now. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ May 13, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[ May 13, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

That would be if we walked through winter (about 91 days long), plus if we are aiming at Sept. 22nd we will lose a good deal of the second year.

Let's see...from June 1, 2003 to September 22, 2004 is 479 days. 1606 miles/479 days = 3.35 miles per day. So even leaving Bag End on 6-1-03, it is still an attainable goal to reach Mt. Doom by 9-22-04. "I think I can...I think I can..."

It's not nearly as funny when you have to explain it. Especially when even after you explain, they still don't get it!!

These poor non-Tolkien people--they just don't know what they're missing!!

I really wish I had a pony to ride like Frodo and company. It would sure be easier on the feet, especially having to go up and down hill so much. But the trees are so thick in here, it's probably easier to get through on foot.

--------------------
But after a time the trees began to close in again, just where they had appeared from a distance to be thinner and less tangled. Then deep folds in the ground were discovered unexpectedly, like the ruts of great giant-wheels or wide moats and sunken roads long disused and choked with brambles. These lay usually right across their line of march, and could only be crossed by scrambling down and out again, which was troublesome and difficult with their ponies.

You have walked 99 miles.
You have reached the bald hill in the Old Forest (110).
It is 11 miles to the next landmark. You still have 359 miles to Rivendell.

Yippe!...359miles to go...359miles! And if I were to run a mile...358miles to go

Ah, so I shouldn't wait until December to "kick it up a notch", if I intend to continue after Rivendell.

Many thanks!

Hilda, Hilda, do the math, you silly girl! You've gone 182 miles in 48 days judging from your first post on March 28 (3 March days, 30 or so April days and fourteen or so May days-- so 182/(3 + 30 + 14)-- looks to me like right now you're AVERAGING 3.8 miles a day. What's your worry?? You'll be in Rivendell by (458-182)/3.8 = 73 more days-- right?? check my math-- Which is another 2.5 months (The rest of may, then june & july) which gets you to the beginning of August or so.

Relax.

Just don't get injured!

[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I don't know about this Mordor thing, I'm having enough trouble with Rivendell [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img].

But, it is amazing how far I walk at work. I never thought about it until I measured it. I have to go from my computer to this room with the archive folders in it, grab the folders and walk all the way back (it's very very annoying), it's three hundred feet round trip. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I walked six miles at work this week. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Plus with all the walking I did moving... :roll eyes: brings me up to the grand total of 72! Must go check to see where in ME I am.

Sophia

Didn't make it very far today. I think I've developed a blister. (I need some elvish medicine.) That's what happens when your elf slippers wear out, and you have to walk in dwarf boots for two days. I'll have to go to Elf-Mart tomorrow and get a new pair if I want to make it to Tom & Goldberry's for the weekend.

--------------------

After an hour or two they had lost all cear sense of direction, though they knew well enough that they had long ceased to go northward at all. They were being headed off, and were simply following a course chosen for them--eastwards and southwards, into the heart of the Forest and not out of it.

In the vernacular:

I *so* love all you guys. Elves, hobbits, and whatnot, alike.... Rae, I am SO glad you had me start this thread.

*warm fuzzy*

[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

This morning I went exploring a new section of woods,and it was SO beautiful I kept thinking "Frodo would have loved this!" There were ridges, rocks, hills and streams, swamps, and multitudes of stone walls (of course)... and one particular stony hillock (they're called "drumlins" around here) with a huge (huge-- 20+ ft diamter??) boulder precariously perched on top of it. It looks like you could push it with one hand and it would roll off and wreak indescribable catastrophe below... but depending on your theology, it's clearly been there since either the ice age or The Flood.

It's like the rock in Maine on the sunrise side-- "Lookout rock"-- I was tempted to call it Weathertop. Not that it gave you a clear view-- too many trees-- but it was just so sudden and distinctive in the woods.

And this (well-marked) path went over big rocks and ridges-- clearly a footpath. Impossible on either an RTV, a mountain bike, or horseback. Just incredible.

So now i have to figure out what section of the book it is most like. Right now it's called Lookout Rock, but it needs a Middle-Earth name, for sure. Maybe "Treebeard's Hill." Ooooooo....... Ooooo.... Oh! I like it!

Hoom, Hom!

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

March 28,2003 - September 22,2004 = 543 days - 91 (winter) = 452 days
1606mi./452 days = 3.55mi. per day

March 28,2003 - September 22,2005 = 908 days - 182 (winter) = 726 days
1606mi./726 days = 2.21mi per day

I had worked on this yesterday before I posted. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I think I'm in, but may become a straggler. A bit weary.

Attagirl, Hilde! You'll do fine. We don't shoot stragglers anyway, do we? Great math, by the way.

As far as weariness goes-- I do hear you... That's why I try to do five or six miles on some days, and then take at least one day-of-rest a week. Sometimes two. And when I turn into a dragon once a month, I curl up in a cave, and mercilessly deal out fiery death to any who disturb me...

Just kidding. Although my husband wouldn't think it was funny at all...

[img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

With over 180 miles done? What does that say for me *sniff*
And I thought I was doing quite well!

Lyra, you ARE doing quite well. You've gone a lot further than if you had never set out-- which is really the point, isn't it? Besides, you're still likely to be in Rivendell on time for the ROTK premiere. But even if you weren't, you've still gone further than if you hadn't set out at all.

Don't let the zoomies get you down. You just keep going, and keep making progress. To put it another way-- keep it Tolkien-focused-- "stay on topic".

[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

What rock are you talking about, Helen (I can call you that, right? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]) I'm from Maine, though right now I'm wandering in a distant land [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]. Are you familiar with my home?? *gets hopeful and excited*

check your PMs (I hope you've got room!)

Yes, let’s not forget tortoises have a legendary track record compared to hares!

I think my weariness comes for from trying to fit in walking rather then the walk itself.
Someday I would like to find a nice hobbit sized rut! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Hilde, that sounds so much like Little Bilbo wearing the Dwarf's hat & coat!

Raefindel, I can’t claim credit for Alatáriël’s creativity, much as I would like too!
Besides after after Marileangorifurnimaluim’s infamous exposition on hobbits, the very mention of shoes makes me feel rather uncomfortable. (Let alone boots!) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: Hilde Bracegirdle ]

51.5 miles and half a mile to Stock, where a rest at the Golden Perch awaits me. I have a blister which slows me down a bit, but for tomorrow's walking I'm going to go searching around for my Elf boots which are just a teeny bit loose, therefore not scraping against my feet as much. *casts foul look at dwarven boots, which were the cause of the blister*

Let's see, with 215 days to the deadline and 406 miles left to go, I should have to walk close to 2 miles per day. Yes, that sounds about right. What this hobbit has already been doing.

Do any of our BD walkers ever visit the official WtR page and read the newsletters? Or anything else there? I myself am waiting for the song results to be out.

Walking is very dangerous for me at the moment. It gives me such wonderful ideas for various books I'm writing and I can't put them down, for my writing computer currently has no keyboard. I wonder if Bilbo ever found inspiration in simply getting out of doors and on the road? Colorful and beautiful descriptions for his book? Reawakened memories of his journey to the Lonely Mountain?

Nuru, it wouldn't surprise me if walking was a big part of Bilbo's artistry, and Frodo's in the long run. Frodo was a hiker long before he left the Shire; didn't he spend from April to September saying "Goodbye" to his favorite haunts?

All I know is, it's been a long time since I've been this happy and content... there are numerous contributing factors, but exploring the "wild" like I've always wanted to, is a part of it; and tramping with a fellow hobbit (a fellow Frodo, what's more) is also a large part of it.

I've gotten very fond of following deer trails. It's a challenge, and I've gotten my share of scratches (including one glorious red one across my forehead [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] ). Deer are shorter, thinner, and more agile than I am.

The paths are fun to follow, because thy go for a short while (30 to 60 feet, usually) and then they disappear. That means you've gotten to a feeding or sleeping area. A bit further, and another trail will begin, run for a short ways, then end... but if you can connect enough of them, one, you'll learn more about the deer, and two, you might even get a passable trail.

(Aragorn & co-- "Strider guided them confidently among the many crossing paths, although left to themselves they would soon have been at a loss"... I always thought that was SO COOL.)

And m'dawg is great at following deer trails. So if I brag about being able to follow trails as well as a Ranger just remind me that half the credit goes to Chonea.

If an elf or a hobbit were walking to Rivendell and saw **TONIGHT'S LUNAR ECLIPSE** (check it out!) what would they do? Sing? Dance? Eat? Party?

Hi, everyone! I'm still walking and have reached Bree by now, over 150 miles total. However, I like the eleventy-one in my location line so much that I'm leaving it there for a bit...

Helen,

Well, I'd imagine an Elf would probably sing. Hobbits, depending on what type they were, could do various things. This one stood and stared in awe and wonder (omiting the part where one of the youngest thought a murderer was slinking around near him) and thanked God for such a beautiful home as He gave us, and imagined what it might look like in our true and eternal home with Him.

The sun is shining and I have found my Elven boots. I'll say goodbye to Woody End today and hello to Stock. I'm aiming to walk four miles today. I recently remembered that I had a walking stick buried away which had been most useful in earlier walks: a great source for imaginitive ideas, and perfect for this hobbit. I do feel strange calling myself a hobbit, though, as I'm more the height of an Elf. Ah well, if that's the only thing against me...... my personality is all hobbit (Frodo-type-hobbit), though my appearance might not be. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Farewell we call to hearth and hall, though wind may blow and rain may fall...

Nurumaiel: I feel strange calling myself an elf, since I'm more the height of a hobbit. Maybe I'm half-elf/half-hobbit, since I have characteristics of both?? [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

My blister has been playing havoc with my walking, but the new elf slippers are definitely a success. I managed to sneak past Old Man Willow today while he was otherwise occupied. The Fire Marshall & insurance adjusters were there questioning him about the fire that occurred earlier this week. *Arson is suspected.*

Once I reach Tom's, I'll have a nice hot bath and just lie around the rest of the weekend. (Now if I can just keep him from singing...)

--------------------

Too surprised and too relieved to talk, the hobbits followed after him as fast as they could. But that was not fast enough. Tom soon disappeared in front of them, and the noise of his singing got fainter and further away. Suddenly his voice came floating to them in a loud halloo!

• Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle!
  Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle.
  Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping.
  When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open,
  Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow.
  Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow!
  Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you!
  Hey now! merry dol! We'll be waiting for you!

Well, Im now at 104 miles. Still on the bald hill. I'm just wondering, how do you guys just so many miles? Do you count what you walk at home/work?

Vardamar, good going! Almost a quarter of the way there.

Regarding distance walked at home or at work, you could count it if you could measure it.

The reason I don't is that Frodo didn't get to either. The extra bits of distance he walked at Bree, or at Tom's house, or at any campsite (getting water, etc) didn't get him closer to Rivendell.

So if I am intentionally putting on some distance, like walking a couple of miles at noontime (which I do regularly, to clear my head. Core-clear, we used to call it...) then I count that. But running around the lab I don't count.

But that's just me. Some people do count that distance and if you want to, that's fine. The thing you want to watch for healthwise, is that the percentage of your walking should be weighted towards the distance work, for health reasons. Steady walking is better for you than fits and starts, although the fits and starts contribute. Make sense?

Anyway, I hike every morning in woods of some sort (either the local state park, or the back woods here in my neighborhood) and that usually gets me three to five miles; then add the two-to-three mile walk at noon, when I can take it (been too busy lately [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] ) and it does add up.