Home > Walktober Challenge

It’s Walktober in Mendocino County!


 


The Challenge: Walk for 10, 20, or 30+ minutes EVERY day
during the month of October.

October is the perfect month to get outside, join up with co-workers, friends, and family, and go for a walk – and walking is the ideal way to be active. It’s available for all ages and abilities, whether you are young or old, fast or slow, and even if you roll! Walktober is about getting outside to move your body and breathe in the crisp fall air. It’s about moving more by incorporating walking into daily activities.

  • Walk to do an errand instead of driving the car
  • Join friends for a masked and socially-distant walk at the park or along the beach
  • Hold a masked and social-distanced walking meeting with work colleagues instead of on Zoom.
  • Take an after-dinner walk around your neighborhood to wind down from your day
Why is exercise important during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Regular exercise is essential for everyone under normal circumstances. However, here are a few reasons why exercise is especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • Exercise boosts the immune system: Research shows that regular, moderate-intensity exercise has immune-boosting benefits that may help your body fight off infections, including COVID-19.
  • Exercise may prevent weight gain: Exercise can help you burn extra calories caused by dietary changes and offset the effects of sedentary activities.
  • Exercise reduces stress and anxiety: Exercise is a proven mood-booster and can help adults reduce stress levels and build emotional resilience.
  • Exercise improves sleep: There is evidence that suggests regular exercise helps you fall asleep faster and improves sleep quality — and getting a good night’s sleep has also been found to boost your immune system.

Exercise may be especially beneficial for older adults and people with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, arthritis, or heart disease. Regular exercise can help to improve balance, flexibility, strength, mobility, and cardiovascular health. Plus, it can boost energy and overall well-being.

Ready to take the Walktober Challenge?!
 
    • Download the “Goal Setting Guide” so that you can set goals for Walktober that will work for you and your fitness level. Click HERE for the guide, and remember to consult your health care provider if you have any health issues to consider.
    • Ask your family, friends, and coworkers to support your efforts – and hopefully to join you in the Challenge!
    • Research how to safely exercise outdoors during COVID-19
    • Take and Tag your walking photos! #walktobermendo
 
Where to Walk and Hike in Mendocino County

A hiking guide of Mendocino County -- Mendocino Area Parks Association

Guided Bird Watching Walks with The Audubon Society-- Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Sprouts Monthly Program-- educational walks and science activities for children at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Trails App for the Mendocino Coast-- Mendocino Land Trust

Great places around Lake and Mendocino Counties to walk on the Small Steps, Big Changes webpage and Lake County Be Well website

Walktober Resources and Information

Center for Disease Control & Prevention: How to be physically active while social distancing

Every Body Walk! is a campaign aimed at getting Americans up and moving. This site features information about the health benefits of walking, news, videos, and events. The Every Body Walk! collaborative is a partnership of national, state and local organizations, federal agencies, businesses, and professional associations that are committed to developing and implementing collective approaches that can return walking to a valued, cultural norm for all Americans.
America Walks offers resources for increasing walking and expanding walkable communities. Together, America Walks and the Every Body Walk! Collaborative boast 700 allied organizations who across the nation are working to increase walking and make America a better place to walk.
The 2018 Bicycling and Walking Benchmarking Reportexternal icon combines original research with over 20 government data sources to compile data on bicycling and walking levels and demographics, safety, funding, policies, infrastructure, education, public health indicators, and economic impacts.
Photo by John Taggart, New York Times

 Walking Related Books 

 Request Through Your Local Library

 
 Click in the sections below to view the book lists. 

Adult Books

 
  1. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  2. A Thousand-Mile Walk To The Gulf by John Muir
  3. A Walk With Jane Austen by Lori Smith
  4. The Walking People: A Native American Oral History by Paula Underwood
  5. Walking San Francisco: 30 Savvy Tours, Exploring Steep Streets, Grand Hotels, Dive Bars And Waterfront Parks by Tom Downs
  6. WanderLust: a History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit
  7. The Old Ways: a Journey on Foot by Robert MacFarlane
  8. The Man who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher
  9. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
  10. Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2’s Deadliest Day- Peter Zuckerman
  11. Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan
  12. Walking Literary London by Roger Tagholm
  13. Walking Ollie: Or, Winning the Love of a Difficult Dog by Stephen Foster
  14. Walking Gently: A Collection of Mostly Gentle Walks in Sonoma County, CA by Sarah Cornelius
  15. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
  16. Walking Home by Simon Armitage
  17. A Philosophy of Walking by Frederic Gros
  18. The Lost Art if Walking by Geoff Nicholson
  19. Walkabout Northern California by Tom Courtney
  20. The Long Walk by Stephen King
  21. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  22. The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
  23. On Foot in Sonoma: Twelve Walks in the Valley of the Moon by Arthur Dawson
  24. Desert Solitaire by Peter Parnell
  25. Walking Meditation by Nguyen Anh-Huong and Thich Nhat Hanh
  26. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter
  27. Walking the Amazon by Ed Stafford
  28. The Long Walk: A Gamble for Life by Slavomir Rawics
  29. Walking Homeless by Al Lamanda
  30. Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis
  31. Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery
  32. Fugitives and Refugees by Chuck Palahniuk
  33. Walking Home by Lynn Schooler
  34. On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz
  35. Planetwalker: How to Change your World One Step at a Time by John Francis

Teen Books

 
  1. Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness
  2. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
  3. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
  4. Over a Thousand Hills I Walk To You by Hanna Jansen
  5. Spirits that Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
  6. Walk Softly, Rachel by Kate Banks
  7. Death Walk by Walk Morey
  8. Looking for Alaska by John Greene
  9. Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson
  10. The Woods by James Tyrion the 4th and Michael Dialynas
  11. East by Edith Pattou
  12. No Summit Out of Sight: The True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the Seven Summits by Jordan Romero and Linda LeBlanc
  13. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  14. The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  15. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
  16. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
  17. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
  18. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  19. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  20. My. Gods. By Tera Lynn Childs
  21. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
  22. Breath, Annie, Breath by Miranda Kenneally
  23. On the Road to Find Out by Rachel Toor
  24. The Naming by Alison Croggon
  25. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
  26. The Year We Were Famous by Dana Reinhardt
  27. The Farther You Run by Davida Wills Hurwin
  28. Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev
  29. See How They Run by Ally Carter
  30. Breakaway Run by David Klass
  31. Jack’s Run by Roland Smith
  32. Girls I’ve Run Away With by Rhiannon Argo
  33. The Girl on the Run by Gregg Olsen
  34. Until it Hurts to Stop by Jennifer R. Hubbard
  35. What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott

Children's Books

 
  1. Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? By Carmela LaVigna Coyle
  2. Tom and Pippo go for a Walk by Helen Oxenbury
  3. The Farwalker’s Quest by Joni Sensel
  4. Trekking on a Trail: Hiking Adventures for Kids by Linda White
  5. Walking Home by Eric Walters
  6. Nature Girl by Jane Kelley
  7. Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris
  8. Weird Walkers: 12 of Nature’s Most Amazing Animals by Anthony D. Fredericks
  9. Henri’s Walk to Paris by Leonore Klein
  10. Miz Berlin Walks by Jane Yolen
  11. Baby Pig Walks by David McPhail
  12. Sheep Take a Hike by Nancy Shaw
  13. A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen
  14. Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places by Jim Arnosky
  15. Say It! By Charlotte Zolotow
  16. Sophie’s Knapsack by Catherine Stock
  17. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by BD Johnson
  18. Henry Works by DB Johnson
  19. The Berenstain Bears go on a Ghost Walk by Jan and Mike Berenstain
  20. The Berenstain Bears: All Things Bright and Beautiful by Jan and Mike Berenstain
  21. The Berenstain Bears Blaze a Trail by Jan and Mike Berenstain
  22. The Berenstain Bear’s Nature Walk by Jan and Mike Berenstain
  23. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
  24. The Crack of Dawn Walkers by Amy Hest
  25. A Good Night Walk by Elisha Cooper
  26. The Listening Walk by Paul Showers
  27. I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis
  28. I Went Walking by Sue Williams
  29. Walking to School: Poems by Ethel Turner
  30. Didi and Daddy on the Promenade by Marilyn Singer
  31. Todd’s Box by Paula Sullivan
  32. Jonathan and his Mommy by Irene Smalls-Hecter
  33. A Green Line by Polly Farquharson
  34. Waving: A Counting Book by Peter Sis
  35. Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best