Twice Around the Globe- Bill Longwell

By Bill Longwell

Edited by Doug Simpson

(Ed. Note:  In IATC’s pantheon of club leaders, Harvey Manning may be number one, but a close second is Bill Longwell, who discoursed about his remarkable hiking experiences over the years.  This article from 2007 is abbreviated due to its length.  –ds)

On June 28, 2007, I reached a major personal hiking goal, 50,000 miles.  That’s twice around the globe.  This milestone came on a hike with companions on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail from Rattlesnake Lake to the small town of Snoqualmie.  Basically, this accumulation of miles began in 1959 when I was 23 years old and began tallying each of my hikes.  This year I am 71 and have kept that hiking tally for 49 years. . .

My total hikes since that 1959 list?  4972 hikes on 5275 days.  Rain or shine.  Twelve months a year.  2370 of those hikes solo.  A 1992 retirement provided a boon to my hiking.   Walking three to four times a week since then has boosted the total almost by half.

I keep all kinds of hiking lists.  Foremost is the list of the hundreds of times I’ve hiked with my two daughters over the past 40 plus years.  I keep bird and flower lists. . . Other lists?  I have a half-century record of back country wilderness hikes (779), a list of my birthday hikes, cross-country hikes—no trail (77), solo and companion hikes, hikes on the PCT (almost 400), day hikes of 20 plus miles (217), Olympic ocean beach hikes (45), and Olympic Mountain hikes (31).  Another list includes my trail work party hikes.  Like a persistent runner, I know exactly how many miles I hike each time.

Until a recent lung disease curtailed most elevation hikes, elevation never deterred me.  I climbed up trails as fast as I could descend them.  Some of my favorite day hikes (I also backpacked them) included the PCT from Chinook Pass to White Pass. . . I did that 30-mile hike 27 times over the years.   I’ve often hiked the Columbia Gorge on both sides of the river, hiked the Mt. Defiance Trail from I-90 exit 47 to Ken’s Truck Town, about 24 miles (24 times).  I walked a dozen times from Snoqualmie Pass to Park Lake and back in a day, about thirty miles, and walked around Granite Mountain (I-90, Melakwa, Tuscohatchie and Pratt lakes ( 44 times).  Recently a favorite hike followed an American Ridge route that included Mesatchee Creek, the PCT near Chinook Pass and the Dewey Creek Trail.  I walked the Chelan Lakeshore 19 times and have hiked into Stehekin 32 times on various trails.  Of course, I hiked between Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass in segments or the whole way over 60 times.  I once walked between these passes in three days in dawn-to-dusk hiking.  For almost 50 years I’ve walked from Spur 10 in Weyerhaeuser lands to Hancock, Calligan, and Moolock lakes and back.

Since my lung problems I’ve taken to a more measured, level hiking regimen and have walked seemingly countless times along the Iron Horse Trail, on Snoqualmie Tree Farm lands, along the
Snoqualmie Valley Trail, and between North Bend and Issaquah along the King County Trail there.  A person can’t stay young forever, but I’ve had a good run.

My 5000-plus hikes include 268 backpacks in the three Western states, totaling about 8000 miles.  Sixty-seven backpacks covered more than 50 miles and 24 of them were solo backpacks.  Of course, my backpacks included the PCT from the Canadian border almost to Mt. Lassen in California.  I’ve hiked the whole Cascade Crest Trail in Washington State twice, once on the old Cascade Crest Trail (original route) in the 60’s and 70’s and once on the current trail route in the 80’s and 90’s.  My favorite backpack still remains the Chelan summit Trail #1259.  That I’ve walked eight times.  With numerous side trips and climbs, I have hiked up to 50 miles along this high and scenic trail in an eight-day backpack.  Also, I try to backpack along the Olympic National Park Ocean Strip at least once a year.

Then came the “other” backpacks—380 of them, trail work-parties where I carried heavy machines to build or clear trails. . . handsaws,. . . iron wedges, loppers, all types of hardware, axes and sledge hammers.   Through my hiking years I’ve had a hand in 1526 trail work-parties, many of them multi-day and 800 of them solo. . . It took me with a group of companions 16 years to build the 16-mile long Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). . .

Much of my hiking in winter months followed pavement.  In the 1980’s and 90’s I often took pavement walks after teaching a day at school.  After leaving my home in the Renton Highlands, I walked to Bellevue or walked through Renton to Tukwila and picked up the Green River Trail to amble all the way to Auburn or until my wife got off work to pick me up.  Fifteen miles.  During two years in the late 1980’s, I walked over 2000 miles doing this.  And, without injuries.

So I count myself as indeed blessed that my body has kept up with my ambitious hiking intentions.  With all my 50,000 miles, long back packs (seven over a 100 miles), hundreds of 20-30 mile day-hikes and cross-country hikes, I’ve never suffered an injury.  Two small knee operations kept me from hiking only a few days.  Only in the past year or so have my feet changed (common for older people), and so I have hiking boots I can no longer wear.  I wear light walking shoes now. . .

Hiking.  My life-long endeavor.  50, 000 miles.  Just a beginning.