Two hikes – The Breaux winery – The Pocosin/Conway River loop – The waning of the pandemic and its effect on the journal – The importance of Fairfax County in Virginia state elections – Evening statistics
Yesterday I went on a winery hike. The hike was a there-and-back between the Weverton parking area and the Ed Garvey shelter. The hike included a visit to the cliff overlook upon the Potomac. The view of the river from above gives the impression of an area wild and all but uninhabited, even though Harpers Ferry, which is not visible from the overlook, is only a couple of miles to the west of the peak. The shelter is one of the handsomer ones on the Appalachian Trail, newly painted, with two stories, a porch, and an adjoining area with a picnic table. After we descended from Weverton Cliffs to the parking area, we went to have lunch at Breaux Vineyards, which was, as one member of our group remarked, very similar to the wineries in Napa and Sonoma: expansive views looking downward from the vineyards into the valley below bordered by the mountain range, elegant architecture, and spacious areas for drinking and dining, both indoors and upon the terraces on all sides of the building. The wines are certainly expensive, but they are undoubtedly the best wines I have tasted at any Virginia winery. It was a lovely autumnal day, cool and dry, with sunlight filtering through the many-colored leaves – for after the unusually warm weather of September and much of October, cooler temperatures are at last initiating the process of the leaves transitioning from green to various shades of red and yellow. We took our lunch outside, pooling together various foods as we usually do, and wined and dined and ate and conversed in a leisurely fashion for two hours.
And today I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a loop that begins with the Pocosin Hollow Trail, goes along the Appalachian Trail upon reaching a ridgeline, and descends via the Slaughter and Conway River Trails. It was a hike that I had never done before and it was enjoyable; it would have been extremely enjoyable if the weather had been more cooperative. Regrettably it rained much of the day – lightly, to be sure, not to a degree that made walking uncomfortable, but it was sufficient to obscure viewpoints, to render various rocks underneath slippery and not very reliable to step upon, and to make the stream crossings very challenging. But it wound its way through beautiful foliage and the portion of the hike that went along Pocosin Creek featured views of numerous cascades of water foaming white on the pools at their base as they pounded down. It was chilly at the top of Lewis Mountain but was considerably warmer as we descended back towards the Conway River.
During the ride back homewards DG rallied me about the journal, both with regard as to whether it will ever come to an end and about its current accumulated length. And indeed its word count at this point is nearly half-a-million; much has happened over the past twenty months. As to when it will end – COVID will never go away completely, that much is clear. It does appear likely, however, that we will come to a point when it will acquire the status similar to that of influenza, that of a troublesome disease that will affect many and be fatal to some every year, which the prudent will strive to avert by preventative measures such as vaccinations and mask-wearing during certain seasons, but which is no longer severe enough to warrant shutdowns and crowd restrictions. The journal will conclude when COVID is a pandemic no longer. With luck that may even be as little as a few weeks from now.
The polls for the Virginia gubernatorial elections have closed, and now all that can be done is to wait to see the outcome. It is too close to call at this point and onlookers will be in suspense for some time to come. It has already been declared that the results from Fairfax County will be delayed; and since Fairfax County is larger than the next three most populous counties in the state combined, it will be difficult to get a complete picture of the race without it.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 248,216,572; # of deaths worldwide: 5,027,385; # of cases U.S.: 46,980,702; # of deaths; U.S.: 768,551.