On January 1 of this year (2024), my wife and I signed up for the Hiker’s 365 Challenge.
Simple concept, actually. All you have to do is hike 365 miles in a year. Easy-peasy—just hike an average of a mile a day. Not like through-hiking the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail!
And so we began right away, hiking 11 miles on the Lake Geneva Trail in Wisconsin on January 1 & 2.
We returned to Lake Geneva in June and logged our longest single-day hike of 15+ miles.
Since then, over the past 9 ½ months, we’ve hiked several different trails of varying lengths and difficulty.
In South Carolina, we covered 8+ miles on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville.
In North Carolina, we hiked a couple of short trails near Gastonia, as well as the Biltmore Gardens trail on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
The Scott County Park trail (5 miles) in Iowa was a nice hike on a warm, early spring day.
As reported in an earlier Pastor’s Page, in California, we climbed Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside, hiked the Devil’s Slide trail in Idyllwild, and walked the San Bernardino Recreation trail.
And of course, there’s Illinois: Krape Park in Freeport (4 miles)…Lowell Park in Dixon (almost 6)…Oakdale Park near Baileyville (3 miles)…Matthiessen State Park in North Utica (5.5 miles)…Rockford Rec Trail (5 miles)…Jane Addams Trail in Freeport (10 miles).
As I write, today is the 281st day of 2024, and we’ve covered a total of 297 miles. We have 84 days to cover a mere 68 miles! We might just make it!
While we greatly appreciate the variety of the trails we’ve hiked, most of the miles covered have been on a trail we can access about ½ mile from our house right along the Rock River. Typically we’ll start either there or at the trail’s eastern terminus, less than 2 miles away.
From that terminus, the Rock River Trail meanders through the woods a bit before climbing a decent hill, then descending to a small bluff that hugs the river for roughly 2 miles. At that point, the trail crosses a bridge spanning the Rock River and then becomes the Hennepin Feeder Canal Trail. A person could hike that for 28 miles, pick up the I&M Trail, and follow that to the Mississippi River.
We haven’t been that ambitious! When we hit the close-to-home trail, we usually cover 3 ½ – 5 miles, depending on how much time we have. But hey, that covers 3-5 days toward the goal!
Why?!?!
Naturally, one might ask why in the world are we doing this? A couple of reasons.
Perhaps the most obvious is to serve as motivation to get some exercise on a regular basis. Sure, the official recommendation is to walk at least 2 miles a day, and I generally do. But the hiking challenge adds further incentive.
Another reason has to do with failure!
We enrolled in the same challenge a couple of years ago and were making good progress. Halfway through the year, though, Chris developed a knee problem, prohibiting her from lengthy walks. Put the kibosh on that. So, we re-enrolled in this year’s challenge to overcome the past.
A Hike of Another Kind
Regardless of our motivations and the physical benefits, the 365 Challenge is also valuable as an important reminder for the Christian life.
The hiker’s challenge suggests a daily walk of at least a mile. Consistently practicing that routine will pay off in the end.
The challenge of the Christian life also involves a consistent daily walk—every day…365 days a year…every year.
Isn’t it interesting that early in the pages of the Bible, those who had a relationship with God—i.e. Enoch and Noah—“walked with” Him?
And Israel’s exodus from Egypt began with walking on dry ground through the Red Sea, and then continued for the next four decades before the walked through the dry Jordan River bed.
When God gave the Law to the Hebrew nation, He said,
You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. – Leviticus 18:4
The Lord then warns His people,
And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. – Leviticus 20:23
But He also promises,
“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them…I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. – Leviticus 26:3, 12
And so on throughout the giving of the Law.
The “walk” motif continues in the Psalms with the opening verse:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. – Psalm 1:1-2
The last book of the Old Testament contains this word of commendation:
True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. – Malachi 2:6
Then we reach the New Testament, where the call to walk remains a prominent theme, especially in Paul’s writing.
For example, in alluding to the beginning of the Christian life—a new way of living—he writes,
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. — Romans 6:4
And indeed that new life is one of “walking” in a particular way:
… walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:4
…Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. – Romans 13:13
… we walk by faith, not by sight. — 2 Corinthians 5:7
… For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10
… walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called — Ephesians 4:1
…walk in love…walk as children of light…walk…as wise — Ephesians 5:2, 8, 15
Paul isn’t alone in using this metaphor. John employs it as well:
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. — 1 John 1:6-7
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. — 2 John 6
You get the point.
Christian living can be thought of simply as a day-by-day trek through the various landscapes of life, sticking to the right path, following the “Trail Guide,” watching for pitfalls, keeping your eyes on the end of the journey—365 days a year.
Happy hiking!
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