The talk show host closed out her 2022 in a BIG way — by taking a 10 MILE mountain hike! On her Instagram Monday, she captioned a video of her hiking crew:
“Ended 2022 with a morning ‘gratitude’ hike that lasted half the day. Uphill for 5 miles straight. 10.2 miles round trip. We packed bread, gospel songs and mantras—follow along to see how it goes.”
Wow! Uphill for 5 miles straight! Oprah was noticeably slimmed down in the videos — and if she’s hiking like this on the reg, no wonder, right??
The TV icon also mentioned that she made the trip in honor of the late Barbara Walters: “The whole idea of this hike is gratitude for the year you’ve had, the life you’ve lived, the lessons you’ve learned. It’s a thank you and a compliment. Today I will do this in the name of Barbara Walters, who has always been my wonderful mentor and friend.”
In a subsequent video, the 68-year-old and a portion of her companions — including best friend Gayle Lord — made sense of the excursion and how thankful they were for as long as year. In the subtitle, she clarified two things she was particularly thankful for that made the climb conceivable — her knees:
“During this ‘gratitude’ hike I am also grateful for my new knees that carried me through this journey. A year ago I couldn’t walk and I finished 2022 walking 10.2 miles up a mountain. God is good.”
Oprah underwent two knee replacement surgeries a little over a year go in November 2021. In the varying clips posted, you can see the star at different points during the hike where she was guided by her two walking sticks. It seems the replacements were a huge success — and have allowed her to get back in shape! Amazing!
It’s clear everyone was enjoying themselves and the outdoors, as The Oprah Winfrey Show host gushed atop the hill:
“We made it to the top where the treeline is. Now it’s just the road that cuts through the trees. It’s just incredible. I cannot describe how peaceful and still it is.”
In a final video, the Oprah’s Lifeclass host revealed she had to carb up for the walk back:
“Once we made it to the top, we celebrated with a BREAD picnic!”
Oprah even jokingly referred to her classic Weight Watchers catchphrase, “I love bread”! Ha! It’s a fitting reward for a workout like this!
