Above all, it’s a great trip. From the quiet Middle-earth all the way to the Lonely Mountain via the valley of Rivendell, where the Elves live. Bilbo Baggins has sturdy feet. Therefore, we decided to evaluate his activity based on the information that was kindly provided by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The departure of the quest for Erebor
From Bag End, proud country of the Hobbits, Bilbo, along with his community of Dwarves, starts out towards Rivendell by way of the East Road. The adventure does not start without pitfalls: it’s at the Loudwater river level that Bilbo and the Dwarves are captured by the Wood Trolls: Bert, Bill, and Tom. After a full day of being lost, they were finally saved by Gandalf. After 640 km of walking in 40 days, they arrived at Rivendell to meet Elrond. 
Current statistics: 640 km in 40 days, minus the day of being lost due to the Trolls. We are therefore at 16 km per day. A Hobbit is all of 1.20 m tall. His stride is therefore about 60 cm. In total, we can estimate this first leg of the journey at 1,060,000 steps. At this stage, our Hobbit therefore unlocked the Jamaica badge.
From Rivendell to the Lonely Mountain
After recovering among the Elves, our Hobbit and his group are a long way from arriving. They therefore continue their journey to Erebor but they are quickly captured by Goblins at kilometer 760 (1,250,000 steps). It’s during his attempted escape that Bilbo finds himself separated from the group and meets Gollum, and the Ring, on the 87th day of his journey. The adventure then follows its course up to day 122, when the Dwarves are captured once again by the Wood Elves and the spiders, but Bilbo finally arrives to save the Dwarves captured by the spiders (we award him a small intense activity bonus). For twenty days, the other Dwarves are still held captive by the Wood Elves. Bilbo will save them on day 150. It’s finally starting from day 169 that they will return to the Lonely Mountain by boat (penalty activity to come!).
The moment of reckoning
Having therefore calculated that the Hobbit took 1,060,000 steps during his journey to Rivendell, here are our results, including a small bonus for intense activity (+10%): Bilbo the Hobbit’s total steps= approximately 3,000,000 steps In 172 days, Bilbo will therefore unlock our highest cumulative distance badge: Madagascar
Bilbo VS Frodo Baggins
A few years later, the mission to destroy the Ring will be undertaken by Frodo… Let’s not beat around the bush – he is much more athletic than his uncle, since he will take 4.8 million steps, which is around 26,000 steps per day, to reach Mount Doom in 185 days.
In detail
Thanks to the LOTR Project for its stunning graphics and information.
