Project #walk365 {November}

This post is so late that I almost skipped it, but I want it here for posterity. So here goes!

In January of 2015 I set a goal to walk 365 miles during the year. I meant it as a goal to walk every day, and for the first half of the year I did just that.

During the second half of the year walking daily wasn't as easy to do, so I upped the miles on the days I did walk (usually two miles per day). I made my 365-mile goal on my birthday in early October, despite a hot summer, a cross-country move, and being pregnant!

But November. November was hard! It was the last month of my pregnancy and as you can see by the pictures, we started to get snow! I cut back my miles to only 5 a week, and tried to get out as much as I could.

I did ok in the rain and slush and cold, but around Thanksgiving we had ice. I walked two more times and threw in the towel! Walking on ice at 38 weeks? No thanks! My total miles logged for #walk365 was 413.

Overall, I'm super proud of myself! I think walking made a huge difference in my pregnancy. Most of the time I felt pretty good and my weight gain stayed in the healthy range.

My goal for 2016 is to walk 500 miles. I know it's not a big difference from 2015's 413, but we're nearly a month into the year and I've walked less than 1 mile!* I'm still recovering from a c-section, I have a newborn, and it's cold and snowy outside, so I'm not going to worry about it yet! With those things in mind, I think #walk500 is a great goal.

*I purposefully go on a walk or log mileage on my treadmill. I use Runkeeper and only log these intentional miles, not the daily mileage I might get around the house or running errands. I think that's great too, but wanted to clarify what "counts" for me.

If you want to walk with me, you know, virtually, I'll be using the hashtag #walk500 or you can follow me on Instagram. I'm gibsongirl726.

Thanks for reading!

Project #walk365 {October}

You guys! I'm still walking!

Seriously. This is kindof a big deal!

My original goal was to walk 365 miles in 2015, an average of one mile a day, obviously. At the beginning of the year, the other part was to walk every day. I'm taking weekends off now, but I'm also growing another human, and I passed the 365 mile marker back at the beginning of October! So the goal has changed along the way, but the point is that I'm still walking!

1. Oh look--feet! I've decided to set my October goal to 1 1/2 miles 5 days a week. Hope that will keep me motivated but not overwhelmed.
2. Just an early morning walk with a rafter of turkeys. That's Idaho!
3. Bam! 365 miles complete! I'm not quitting my walks quite yet though! (It just so happened that this milestone was on my 40th birthday!)
4. I'm having to walk later in the day because mornings are cold and dark. Glad I have a schedule that allows for that!
5. We live by a tree farm and it's fun to see the colors en masse on my walks.
6. Same tree farm as yesterday. Still pretty!

1. Aren't the clouds cool? So was the weather. Should have dressed a little warmer, but it still beats being hot!
2. Old MacDonald's barn is my turn-around spot these days. (Seriously, that's the name on the mailbox!)
3. My, what long legs I have! The bump is getting more prominent.
4. The hills are highlighted with yellow and orange!
5. I love fall! We've been having frosty nights and warm days with plenty of sunshine. Wish you could see the mountains better.
6. Not a bad view on my walk today.

1. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! 380 total miles this year!
2. We showed the boys the joy of geocaching today! It was great for the first three caches but the fourth had us scaling mountains and watching out for bears! We never did find it.
3. Sunset over Lake Pend Orielle (part of the geocaching adventure).
4. We got rain last night so the sky is clean and the grass and trees are sparkling.

1. I want to walk down this road to see where it goes! Sadly it's private property.
2. It was 39* when I left for my walk with frost still in the shade.
3. Did you know there are deciduous conifers? I just learned about tamarack trees this week. They're pretty!
4. It was still frosty and a cold 34* at 8 AM and I had to bundle up for my walk!

1. There's snow on the mountain behind the clouds!
2. The rain has greened up the grass, even as the leaves are falling.
3. On a whim we tried the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake. When you start at the lake there will be climbing involved to get to said viewpoint! Climbing is hard when you're 34 weeks pregnant! The view and the feeling of accomplishment were worth it though.
4. Celebratory selfie at the top of the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake.
5. Thankful for a break in the rain for my walk today. I like rain but not getting wet.
6. There was finally another break in the rain and I got my 1.5 miles in! Technically it's November, but I need one more for October, so I'm counting it! Also, more snow on the mountains!

Ok, so my last October walk was really in November, but I'm totally justifying it. Both Friday and Saturday were really rainy and really busy, and I just couldn't make myself walk in the rain. That brings me to a total of 33 miles in October, and 396 miles total for 2015. Yay!

My goal for November--taking into consideration that it's weeks 36-39 of my pregnancy, there's Thanksgiving and the weather might just include snow before the end of the month--is one mile a day, five days a week. That's only 20 more miles! I will take December off (hello, baby!) and slowly ease back into walking in January, if the weather allows.

Have you kept your exercise goals for 2015?

Robinson Lake

A few weeks ago on a normal Sunday, a friend we ran into in town told us about a hike he had been on the day before. It was a beautiful day and we had nothing on the agenda, so we went looking for this hiking trail!

We drove north on Hwy 95 from Bonners Ferry. The drive itself is so beautiful! This section of 95 is part of the Wild Horse Trail Scenic Byway and the International Selkirk Loop. After about 25 miles, we came to Robinson Lake and Campground. It looked promising, so we parked and started walking around.

We found a trail in the forest and followed it as it meandered by Gillon Creek.

We walked about a mile and a half before finding a quiet spot and letting the boys do what boys will do around creeks.

There was lots of rock throwing and leaf-boat races. Jonathan helped guide the boats through a rocky spot as they kept getting stuck. I'm truly surprised he didn't get wet!

This guy and I enjoyed hanging out, watching our kids, and looking at this:

At times like these, we're so so glad we moved here!

We followed another trail back to the campground. When the boys saw a fallen log over the creek that made a perfect bridge, they all had to try it. I don't want to admit how nervous I was for them! They all did great! No one fell or freaked out. Josiah got a little help from his daddy, but I couldn't even watch! #boymom

After that nerve-wracking experience (honestly, I was the only one with a case of nerves!), we headed back to the lake to do some faux fishing and more leaf-boats. Actually, Jared carried a huge chunk of bark through half of the hike and we found pinecones and rocks to be passengers.

I was happy to have a bench to sit on and this beautiful view!

I think Robinson Lake Campground is next on our list of places to camp. But this very pregnant lady isn't camping anywhere for awhile!

After we left Robinson Lake, we drove the remaining 5 miles or so up to the Canadian Border. You know, just to say we'd been there. We currently don't have passports so we can't venture across the border, but we'd like to one day!

Hope you enjoyed this outing with us!

Ross Creek Cedars

We live at the tippy top of Idaho, and if you remember geography at all, you know the northern half of the state is very narrow. We're on the eastern edge of it, just 10 miles or so from the Montana border.

A few weeks ago we took the long way home from church. It added about 30 miles to the drive but we got to see some spectacular Montana country! It's even more wild and rural than the part of Idaho we live in.

We had planned to find somewhere to stop and take a hike, so after driving in several potential areas and getting turned around by long gravel roads to nowhere, or signs warning of fires (which we could see), we came across Ross Creek Cedars.

The weather was cool and refreshing and it felt good to be outside walking around after a day of sitting. We explored the creek and took a walk through the cedar forest.

It was less than two miles so we looped around a little bit extra so I could get my #walk365 mileage in, and because it was fun!

The hike is interactive and it seemed like visitors were encouraged to climb on and in and under and through the giant trees!

And the creek bed had so many of these rock towers! It was an incredible 3D feeling that the pictures simply miss.

We loved being at Ross Creek Cedars and are sure to return. I'd like to go in the spring to see if the creek gets full!

Thanks for stopping by!

Project #walk365 {September}

On Monday, my birthday, I walked my 365th mile this year!

But that was October and this is supposed to be about September!

I walked 46 miles in September, which I'm so proud of, but I didn't quite meet my monthly goal of walking 2 miles a day, 6 days a week. That's ok--I still did a great job. But there were days I didn't make walking a priority and days I just didn't feel up to it and let it slide. Because of that--feeling overwhelmed some days--as well as darker, colder mornings and the ever growing baby bump, I set my October goal as 1.5 miles 5 days a week.

Let's get on with the run-down of my September walks!

1. Today's walk was so very beautiful! The clouds are amazing and the mountains are back after being hidden by smoke for a couple weeks.
2. I walked in the rain this morning. It wasn't more than a sprinkle but my clothes were wet and I can't say I liked it. At least it wasn't hot. Or smokey.
3. It's so pretty in Idaho! Today was both hot and cold, depending on the wind.
4. There was rain last night and this morning the clouds were so beautiful! It was also cold! I had to go back inside for another layer and my gloves.

1. I walked with the whole family today on an old road into Bonners Ferry. It was a mile down and a mile back up and I didn't die! Only added a few minutes to my usual time. The view helped.
2. I walked with my two younger boys today, so we drove a little way to avoid crossing the highway. This pond is almost dry but there's a sign that says "water over road". We'll see how full it gets in the spring.
3. Gary is still out of town, so I walked with my boys again. They're great walkers/bikers!
4. Doesn't it look cold?

1-2. (From the same walk.) My walking buddies. Filtered sunshine.
3. Starting to see fall colors on my walks!
4. I'm soon going to have to change my walking time--it's getting darker! It was a cool 48* this morning.

1. Two more miles on this dark and chilly morning.
2. Another day, another walk.
3. Back out walking after taking the weekend off. It rained last night but thankfully quit about the time I started walking.
4. The sunrise today was so pretty! I also saw a couple dozen deer, 40+ turkeys and a dozen horses. Also, I walk faster when it's cold!

1. It was frosty this morning! It took nearly the whole first mile to warm up. 350 miles total-getting close to my goal!
2. Fall colors in Northern Idaho.
3. The whole family got to walk through Ross Creek Cedars in Montana this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather. The walk was very interactive and the boys loved it!
4. I love weekend walks with the family! This one was by a lake and a stream in the forest. So pretty!

1. This was moonset in the west while sunrise happened in the east. I was tired, the weather was cold and getting out the door was hard! So glad I did it anyway!
2. I'm glad I have my #walk365 project to keep me motivated.
3. I see dozens of deer on my early morning walks. They're very alert and afraid of me and usually put up their tails and run. However if you're in a car they just ignore you!
4. Total for September: 46 miles. Total for 2015: 359 miles!

So there you go! I'm thankful my husband is supportive of my walks. He has been making breakfast so I can go for a walk during the week, and on weekends we usually go out somewhere as a family. I'm proud of myself for sticking to this New Year's resolution!

You can follow me on Instagram (gibsongirl726) and read about my walks by searching #walk365 or #runwalkhike. Those hashtags aren't exclusively mine so you'll find lots of other motivated walkers too.

Have a good one!