Month: March 2023

Hikes in Banshee Reeks and Broad Run Trails – Donald Trump indicted – Vanishing COVID states of emergency – Evening statistics

I’ve been doing a good deal of scouting lately.  On Wednesday I went to Banshee Reeks to verify the route I had laid out for the Capital Hiking Club there; the hike will take place towards the end of April.  It was just as well that I did so.  There are so many turns and junctions that several of them are not apparent on the park map.  Also, although there are over 20 miles of trails, the park is contained in a relatively small area and I had to verify whether the proposed route would be long enough.  In the end I modified it a bit to ensure that the shorter hike was at least seven miles.  It is lovely area, and significantly different from that of the mountain ranges that we habitually frequent, being located along Goose Creek, with riparian flora and fauna.  The park is beautifully maintained and trail names are posted at all junctions. 

Then on Thursday I returned to Broad Run, which I had scouted with the hike leaders the preceding week.  There wasn’t any actual need to do this, but I wanted to see for myself whether the bluebells were in flower; they were just beginning on the day that we scouted.  They are in full bloom now, not quite at their peak, but a magnificent spectacle nonetheless.  The leaders also rerouted the hike to eliminate a portion of road walking, and on trying it out I found that the hike mileage is about the same and the change is very much for the better.  It involves more there-and-back portions than the original route, but that is no disadvantage, for it enables the hikers to see the bluebells twice on the various paths that the route uses.  The temperature throughout the hike I did yesterday was in the mid-40s, but it was so sunny and windless that it felt much warmer.

Donald Trump has been indicted at last.  He is to be arraigned on Tuesday.  The indictment, unfortunately, is not one of those that I have been waiting for, with increasing exasperation at the delay:  namely, for his seditious attempts to interfere with the election results of Georgia in November, 2020, and his subsequent orchestration of the assault upon the Capitol in January, 2021.  Those cases are still pending.  I must continue to possess my soul in patience, it appears.  If fashion dictates to lawyers that when a felony is committed in 2020, the proper time to indict the perpetrator is 2025 or 2030, no eloquence of mine will teach them a nearer approach to punctuality. 

The indictment in question concerns the hush money he paid to Stephanie Clifford, AKA Stormy Daniels, an actress in pornographic films who claims that she had an affair with Trump and that he paid her hush money to keep quiet about it during Trump’s campaign in the 2016.  There seems to be little doubt about the money he paid to her, although, for what it is worth, Trump denies having had any kind of affair.  The payment made to Daniels is a violation of campaign finance laws and is also a falsification of business records, but neither of these is likely to involve prison sentences if Trump is found guilty.  They will most likely result in fines; and fines, as I have noted in past entries, will have little effect on Trump’s activities; his holdings are too large for any amount of judicial fines to reduce them substantially.  Nor does the indictment prevent him from pursuing his campaign for the 2024 election. 

Still, it is progress of a sort.  The indictment may prod the participants of other investigations to bring charges against him as well, and in any case he now is handicapped by being the first man who occupied Presidential office to be indicted of criminal charges, a factor that one hopes will hinder him in future political undertakings.  I say “one hopes” because the Republican Party has shown no signs of distancing themselves from their brazen idol even now.  On the contrary, the leaders have erupted in fury upon hearing news of the indictment – including Ron DeSantis, the man who stands to benefit the most by it.  Trump is his greatest rival in his bid for the Presidential nomination; yet he was among the first to denounce Alvin Bragg, the prosecuting attorney, and he added that the state government of Florida would play no role in extraditing Trump to New York.  Trump himself has expressed bewilderment at this reaction of sympathy from his fellow Party members.  “It’s the craziest thing,” he said Saturday at his rally in Waco, Texas. “I got bad publicity and my poll numbers have gone through the roof. Would you explain this to me?”  If only one could!

Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the U.S., has formerly ended its declaration of a state of emergency on account of COVID.  The state of emergency is already over in California generally, but there are a few isolated areas that have localized state of emergency declarations.  Hollywood’s is still in force, although it is scheduled to end on May 12^th – just one day after the national state of emergency is to be lifted.  As in other parts of the country, the rate of COVID infection has been steadily declining.  Over the last nine months, there has been a 94% decrease in demand for in-person testing at DHS testing centers.  Various localized states of emergency remain in effect.  New Jersey, for instance, still has an active COVID state of emergency in place, even though the state’s public health emergency was lifted in 2021.  The expiration date for the federal state of emergency is still set for May 11^th, less than six weeks from now.

Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 683,930,289; # of deaths worldwide: 6,831,536; # of cases U.S.: 106,218,929; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,155,038.  

Hikes on Kennedy Peak and in the Hazel Mountain area – French insouciance during the rioting – Dissent in Russia – Russian economic woes – Evening statistics

On Sunday FH and I led the Kennedy Peak hike that we had scouted earlier.  When we scouted the hike the day had been cool and misty, and the chill wind blowing at Kennedy Peak did not encourage us to linger.  Sunday was very different, warm without being oppressively hot, and beautifully clear.  This meant that others besides ourselves would be using the same hike route, and there were a good deal many more people on the trails than the day that we scouted it.  But everyone enjoyed themselves, and indeed it is one of the most rewarding hikes in the area, with the views from the west side of the Shenandoah Valley looking over the river where it bends and curves into numerous oxbows.  The trees were still bare of leaves on the upper elevation, but the meadows below were richly green and many wildflowers were blossoming.

Today I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a route from Nicholson Hollow to the Hazel Mountain area, which was 16 miles and involved about 4000 feet of elevation gain; yet it seemed less strenuous than the Roller Coaster hike of two weeks ago, even though the elevation gain was slightly greater today.  But it had a good deal less scree on the trails, so there were not as many problems about footing as on the other hike.  The Hazel Mountain area is an attractive one, although it is not rich in wildflowers; much of the forest in this region is old forest, predominantly deciduous (although there are belts of pine here and there).  This was perhaps the best day for it; the weather was cool but not chilly, just right for a hike that involves so much ascent, some of it quite steep.  The leaves were just beginning to form today.  Not many people attended this hike, and I don’t know why:  one couldn’t ask for better hiking conditions and the drive to the hike is not especially long.

Much of the news worth relating is coming from France at this point.  The French are rioting in opposition to Macron’s determination to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, since the rate at which retirees are receiving income from the government is currently not sustainable.  Indeed, I have often wondered how French industries sustain themselves at all.  I can remember when working on a project for NATO, the American, British, and Dutch participants would work overtime as a matter of course.  The French would not – they could not, in fact, for their union rules forbade them from working more than 39 hours per week.  The French, I am bound to say, infuse even their insurrections with a certain amount of élan that our compatriots notably lack.  There is one interesting piece of footage from Bordeaux that shows a pair of diners placidly sitting outside of a café and savoring their glasses of wine, daintily sniffing the wine’s bouquet – and completely oblivious, apparently, to the fact that just behind them the rioters have set the street on fire. 

As repressive as Russia has been in the past, the crackdown on dissent is becoming even more draconian.  Some months ago Maria Moskalyov, a 13-year old student, drew an antiwar picture at her school that that depicted missiles flying over a Russian flag at a woman and child and said, “Glory to Ukraine.”  The apartment of Alexei Moskalyov, her father, was thereupon raided in December and a criminal case was opened against him this month. He was put under house arrest and his daughter was placed into the orphanage.  (The girl’s mother left the family when Maria was three years old and has started a new family of her own in another city; she seems to have no interest in her daughter by her first marriage.)  Today a Russian court convicted him of making social media posts critical of the war in Ukraine and sentenced him to two years in prison.  Knowing how ruthless the regime is, Moskalyov was sufficiently astute to free himself of the bracelet that had been clamped on his wrist to track his movements and to flee the area to avoid arrest.  He is currently at large.  His lawyer visited the orphanage afterwards, but he was not allowed to see Maria.  He was allowed, however, to photograph a letter that she wrote to her father, which ended with, “Daddy, you’re my hero.”

Putin is in fact having difficulties.  Initially the war against Ukraine caused prices of oil and natural gas to surge around the world.  For a time, that meant that Russia could increase its own costs of oil and gas, making a more significant profit.  But that is no longer the case.  NATO has held firm and the sanctions on Russia products are taking their toll.  Russian economy is now entering a long-term regression, according to Alexander Prokopenko, a former Russian Central Bank official who fled Russia after the invasion.  The ruble is down over 20% against the dollar in the past five months. The military draft has resulted in over 22,000 Russians fleeing to the United States. The draft also means that young people are being pulled from the labor force and sent to war, which is starting to impact Russian businesses.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 683,455,468; # of deaths worldwide: 6,827,921; # of cases U.S.: 106,113,981; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,153,880.  

A canceled hike – Working in the garden – Evening statistics

We were obliged to cancel the Capital Hiking Club hike today because it was scheduled for the Camp Rapidan area, which has been temporarily closed off on account of a recent wildfire.  This, however, is to be borne with resignation, for it rained steadily most of yesterday and the morning of today, and in all probability it would not have been enjoyable.  I will be leading the Kennedy Peak hike with the Wanderbirds tomorrow, when fair weather is predicted.  The paths will be muddy and slippery as a result of the recent rain, but there will be at least a little time for the water to drain off and the puddles to recede slightly.

In the meantime I worked on the garden at home today.  I am no expert gardener but I managed to dig up some old bulbs that no longer produce flowers, and I planted some pansies and violas in their stead, and I weeded the plots a bit, and I distributed mulch on their surfaces.  It is not a bad time to work on the garden just after a rainstorm clears; it is easier to dig and loosen the soil when it is soft and wet.  The garden looks quite colorful now,

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,970,802; # of deaths worldwide: 6,823,199; # of cases U.S.: 106,042,628; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,152,582.   COVID rates continue to decline, happily.  In Virginia the 7-day COVID positivity rate has gone down by 5.9% and new cases have dropped 18% from last week.

Dining in downtown Washington – Scouting the Bluebell hike – Investigation of Tiktok – An unlucky choice of getaway car – Evening statistics

I had fallen behindhand in working out the maps and hiking directions for Wanderbirds and CHC hikes scheduled for April, so I spent much of yesterday trying to complete these. In the late afternoon I went to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms, which are almost at their peak; and since I was there on a weekday, it was less crowded than it would have been on a Saturday or Sunday.  From there I went on to a restaurant in the Shaw district, where I met up with GT – the “grand old man of hiking,” as I call him, for he remains an avid hiker even though he is well into his nineties – and his wife BH and four others whom I know from the Vigorous Hikers.  The Convivial, where we dined, is elegant without being stiflingly formal and its prices are surprisingly reasonable for such an upscale menu.  It was a wonderful evening, as we all ate the rich food and drank the fine wines that accompanied the dishes, and we conversed animatedly among ourselves.  Our topics, as may be imagined, were concerned with outdoor matters:  the status of various trails, the best places to view certain varieties of wildflowers, the varieties of edible mushrooms available in the area, various trips we had planned in the upcoming months for hiking and biking,, the techniques to use for kayaking and canoeing and whitewater rafting.  Towards political topics (to which – alas! – I must revert to presently) we gave scarcely a passing mention, and that is perhaps not unusual in a Washington colloquy, for we are so saturated here with comings and goings of politicians that most of us are – not to put too fine a point on it – sick to death of the subject.

Today I met with FH and RR to scout the Broad Run hike that is scheduled for a week from Saturday.  To my pleased surprise, the bluebells are just beginning to bud, which means that they will be in flower by the day that the hike is scheduled and will not, as I had originally feared, be past their prime when it takes place.  The recent cold evenings have delayed their growth to some extent, and the season of their bloom will be more typical this year than I expected.  The weather was cool and windy when we began but it warmed up considerably, and the three of us had a thoroughly enjoyable time strolling along the trails and admiring the wildflowers.  We saw many spring beauties and bloodroot in addition to the bluebells, and it seems likely that the trout lilies will be blooming soon in the area as well.  Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the hike on the day that is scheduled for the club, having another engagement; but I may saunter there some time in the coming week. 

TikTok is currently undergoing a Congressional investigation for its ties to China.  During this investigation Representative Richard Hudson, from North Carolina, displayed a remarkable ignorance about Wifi, a fairly basic concept in the field of network engineering.  His first question to Shou Zi Chew, the TikTok CEO, was “Mr. Chew, does TikTok access the home Wifi network?”  That’s rather like asking whether a car’s fuel task needs to be filled with gasoline before it can be driven or whether a house needs connection to a source of electricity for its lights to be turned on. 

It is true that one variety of automobile does not use gas at all, which, as two would-be robbers discovered, is not necessarily an advantage. Two thieves stole about $8000 worth of gaming systems at a store in Gwinnett County, GA, and then proceeded to drive off in a Tesla as their escape vehicle.  However, the car had already been driven many miles and in the process of their flight the drivers discovered that its battery was in need of recharging. Police found them just 15 minutes down the road from the theft scene, waiting for their Model X getaway car to top up at a location in Duluth, the nearest location that had charging stations. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,970,802; # of deaths worldwide: 6,823,199; # of cases U.S.: 106,042,628; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,152,582.   

The first hike of spring – Unpopularity of Mike Pence – Evening statistics

Yesterday RS was unable to come to my place, and in truth I was not sorry for the opportunity to regroup a bit after three consecutive days of hiking.  Today, however, I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a hike suitable for ushering in the spring season, going to Caledonia State Park and doing a circuit of 18 miles.  I have been to Caledonia many times in the past, but this was the first time I was on the trails east of Rte. 233, and thus part of the hike was new to me.  The remainder, which went along the Beaver and Rocky Knob Trails, I had done before, but going in the opposite direction, so in a sense that part of the hike was new to me as well.  The weather could not have been better:  it was cold when we began, but it warmed up rapidly, and the sky, in contrast to the somewhat clouded conditions at lower elevations, was perfectly clear.  We came across a group of hikers going along the Beaver Trail and continuing around the reservoir; but outside of that, we encountered no one until we reached Quarry Gap.  Even there, there were surprisingly few people on the AT.  The shelter remains as elegant as ever.  I felt completely energized by the end of the hike, not exhausted as I was last week on the group’s hike of comparable distance – though to be sure its elevation gain was greater, nearly 4000 feet as opposed to 2770.  At one point some members of the group commented that we could have taken a clockwise route instead of a counterclockwise one, which would have allowed us to lunch alongside the beautiful Long Pine Run reservoir.  Nonetheless I thought that our lunch spot at the Milesburn Cabin was thoroughly comfortable, situated amid rhododendron thickets, with a stream rippling nearby with the delightful sound of its plashing, and dotted with various wildflowers, including some large purple crocus that are blooming somewhat later here than done in the DC metro area. 

It’s difficult to concentrate on the headlines after such a glorious experience, and indeed I do not see much of new development.  The only item that caught my attention was a headline that said:  “Nobody likes Mike Pence.”  Is this really news?  It has seemed fairly obvious to me for a long time.  Pence’s consistent hedging of bets by refusing either to align himself with Trump openly or to criticize Trump has alienated both Trump supporters and Trump opponents.  At all events, comments from people interviewed about his presidential ambitions ran along the lines of “it’s over, it’s retirement time” and “he’s only gonna get the vote from his family, and I’m not even sure if they like him.”

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,687,925; # of deaths worldwide: 6,820,990; # of cases U.S.: 105,986,345; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,151,851.  There have been less than 1,000 deaths from COVID today worldwide, if the statistics are to be believed.  The U.S. now ranks 59^th among nations for COVID infections, but, alas, 15^th for mortality rate.

Effects of the pandemic, from a three-year perspective – An unexpected side effect of COVID, or so it is alleged – Evening statistics

Having devoted the greater part of recent entries to personal matters and to hiking in particular, I turn my attention to the effects of the pandemic at large, now that it seems to be receding.  This is inspired in part by a publication by AARP received recently, which discussed the long-term results of the COVID pandemic.

Not all of them are bad.  Tele-commuting, which increased enormously after the pandemic set in, is here to stay; it is estimated that the number of people physically commuting to offices has been reduced by a third.  This means many workers are spending more time in the communities where they reside and also that they are moving to places whose cost of living is lower.  As a result, small towns, which had been declining in earlier years, are becoming revitalized.  Again, telehealth sessions have become more common, resulting in less need for waiting in an office for a physician appointment. 

Rather curiously, seniors have fared better than middle-aged and young people psychologically.  I myself have recorded how I endeavored to maintain social relationships even while the pandemic was at its height.  Although it is obvious that people in their sixties and seventies could not all hike together dozens of miles each month with like-minded friends, they used other means to stay in touch with their relatives and acquaintances.  Members of later generations have social ties of much shorter duration and in addition have had less leisure time than those who have retired to organize meetings with their friends. 

People have been getting out of doors more often.  I have encountered many younger people on the trails than before, in many cases taking their children and even infants with them.  The divorce rate has decreased and relationships appear to have become more stable.  Families with multiple generations under one roof have done especially well:  nearly 80% of these report have better interactions with their relatives and children. 

Although staffing remains an issue, our traditional leisure activities have returned in full force.  Weddings have jumped up from 2.1 million in 2019 to 2.5 million in 2022, an increase of 19%.  Travel has resumed, including cruise lines.  I have been critical of the sports industries in general, but it must be admitted that the dedication of professional players who quarantined together, tested constantly, and played on many occasions in nearly empty arenas have preserved a valuable source of entertainment that is now bringing pleasure to hundreds of thousands.  And the process of viewing them has improved;  ticketing has become paperless, and refreshments are ordered in advance through various apps and screens, making attendance in a stadium a less chaotic experience.

Of course there are downsides as well.  Children born in 2016 or after appear to be slower to develop.  Infants born during the pandemic speak much less than their pre-pandemic counterparts.  Babies learn in part by watching mouths move, so the practice of wear facemasks is almost certainly affecting their verbal processing.  Then, too, many of them have been isolated in their earliest years by home-schooling.  Even though the older generation has done better than younger ones, not all of its members have weathered the crisis triumphantly:  the amount of substance abuse among older adults has increased, in the cases of alcohol-related and opioid-related deaths.  People of all ages are also deferring routine medical checkups such as colonoscopies and mammograms, leading to delayed discoveries of cancers, at a stage when they are more difficult to treat. 

On a personal level, in some ways I am in line with these social trends and in some cases I am bucking them.  My behavior in attempting to maintain contact with friends and relatives during the time such an attempt required a special effort appears to be typical for someone in my age group.  As travel restrictions lifted, I have taken various airplane flights to numerous locations, including international flights. On the other hand, I have done less online shopping than most of my compatriots, particularly with respect to groceries, which I prefer to select in person.  And I have been so atavistic in my behavior as actually to tender cash for such transactions on occasion.  I am doggedly clinging to facemasks, at any rate during public transit and excursions to stores and other places with crowds.  I certainly have been doing a good deal of physical activity, but it doesn’t seem to me that the pandemic is directly responsible for it; I would have taken to the trails in any case.  I do not see that I am less active now that the pandemic is receding. 

If a certain Department of State employee is to be believed, COVID has one side effect that no one could have predicted.  Dean Cheves, aged 63, has recently been convicted of paying two girls in Manila, aged 15 and 16, about $60 to film him as he engaged in sexual acts with them.  In his defense he pleaded that he contracted COVID in December 2020, becoming so ill that he thought that he was at death’s door, and that as a result his behavior during that time became “uncharacteristic.”  This amazing diagnosis that COVID can transform someone into a sexual predator, however, is unconfirmed by medical science; and prosecutors accordingly took a much harsher view of his offenses, noting that the age of consent in the Philippines is 18 and that moreover Cheves had repeatedly boasted to one of his victims that he had previously abused a 14-year-old in Brazil, taking her to a “sex motel” and recording the rape – a hint, perhaps, that his behavior in such matters was less uncharacteristic than he claimed.  At all events, they requested that the judge deliver a “significant sentence” along with a lifetime of supervised release.  The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison, the mandatory minimum, and moreover ordered him to pay thousands of dollars to his victims.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,578,816; # of deaths worldwide: 6,820,145; # of cases U.S.: 105, 977,097; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,151,732.

Hiking at Seven Bends – Trump’s new incitement to violent demonstrations – Evening statstics

Another excellent hike today, this time with the Wanderbirds at Seven Bends State Park, situated along the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.  We went up several trails today, some of them quite steep, to the ridgeline of the Massanuttens and then went over 2½ miles further to an impressive overlook of the valley between Massanutten and Great North Mountain, with a bird’s-eye view of the town of Woodstock.  The weather was cold but clear, so that it felt much warmer than the temperature would indicate.  Nor was it not especially windy except at the overlook itself, which faces west and therefore tends to be more exposed to gales.  This hike was a carpool hike, as the next two hikes will be, but we are resuming bus hikes during the second week of April.

I have been relatively inactive outside of the days that I’ve hiked with the clubs, for which the weather is in part responsible. But this week is making up for the lack, thanks to scouting responsibilities.  I have hiked three consecutive days and will be hiking Monday and Tuesday as well, and I will be leading hikes for both Saturday and Sunday next weekend.  It has helped matters that I have not had to drive much; FH drove her car from my place to the trailhead on Friday; Saturday was a bus hike; and LH drove me from Vienna Metro to the trailhead today.  It is so much easier when there is no long drive to undertake after the hike is over!

Donald Trump announced yesterday that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday.  Greatly desirable as such an event would be, it is not at all likely, since he has not even been formally accused in any of the cases pending against him, let alone brought to trial.  I take this to be yet another conceit of his intended to rouse his rabble followers to a demonstration of violence similar to that of the raid on the Capitol.  It is possible that such followers may take warning from the fate that the January 6^th rioters are currently undergoing, with one after another being fined and imprisoned.  But such a supposition is put forward with more hope than confidence.  Long before he even thought of entering politics, Trump had developed a reputation for skullduggery of the most sordid description, consistently cheating his business associates of profits and his contractors and employees of their wages.  Yet despite his long history of being thoroughly unreliable in financial matters, people persisted in entering business deals with him and applied for employment for every one of his mismanaged operations.  It is not to be expected that his followers will be any shrewder in political matters than in financial ones.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,466,312; # of deaths worldwide: 6,819,419; # of cases U.S.: 105,921,589; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,151,282.

From Skyland to Thornton Gap – After-hike festivities – Another over-indulged child rioter – Evening statistics

A splendid hike today with the Capital Hiking Club, led by MM, who has already been mentioned in this journal during the misadventure some months ago on the Appalachian Trail south of Skyland, when he discerned two hikers undergoing great difficulties and guided them to Skyline Drive, and then proceeded to jog seven miles on the road to the bus in order to instruct the driver to drive back to them and transport them to the endpoint.  His jogging abilities were very much in evidence today:  during the first half of the hike he literally ran along the descents.  It was quite an effort to keep up with him.  Of course I was not obligated to run after him directly and I could easily have dropped behind to walk on the trail at my own pace, but run after him I did – out of vanity, I suppose.  It was a glorious day, somewhat cold to be sure, but not frigid, and much more sunny than the forecast led me to expect.  This hike consisted of hiking the AT from Skyland to Thornton Gap, with a side trip to Mary’s Rock.  There we had untrammeled views of the valley spreading out more than two thousand feet beneath us and of Skyline Drive weaving along the mountain range. 

The last 1¾ miles is a long and rocky descent to the Thornton Gap parking area.  I was going at that point with someone hiking with us for the first time, but who lived in New Mexico until recently and has had extensive experience in hiking and skiing, including ascending several 14-ers in Colorado and several sections of the Via Ferrata in Italy.  Nevertheless even she said after we completed this portion of the hike that the descent was “brutal.”  But we made good time, starting at 10:20 and arriving at the parking area before 1:10; the distance is about 9½ miles, with 1550 feet of elevation gain.

Afterwards we went to the Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville.  CHC has previously visited this distillery after a hike, although the last time it did so was several years ago, well before the pandemic started.  During that last visit, we took a tour of the facility, which, even though I care little for whisky, I quite enjoyed.  I was particularly taken with the cats who were lying about in the granary; their presence discourages the invasion of rodents who would otherwise be swarming over all of the grain strewn on the floor of the barn.  No tour was available on this occasion, but we ordered drinks and sat outside, where the temperature was somewhat warmer at this lower elevation, and conversed among ourselves as we sipped our drinks and admired the sunlight sparkling on the swift-moving little stream of the Thornton River. 

Among the hikers was LE, whom I had not seen for some time, and we discussed current affairs, agreeing that the news programs of late have become too depressing to watch for any appreciable amount of time.  From their numerous stories of incompetence, corruption, and general national malaise I will select only one:

Yet another drama related to the January 6^th riot was played out in the courtrooms today when Amy Bilyard protested mightily upon hearing Judge Reggie Wilton sentenced her 21-year old son Aiden to 40 months in prison for assaulting police with a deadly or dangerous weapon when he sprayed Capitol officers with a pepper gel.  Ms. Bilyard of course declared that her beloved Little Lord Fauntleroy was “warm, intelligent, and Kind,” and such a trifling lapse on his part should have been dismissed with a reaction something like the following:  “You shouldn’t have done that.  Oh, well, never mind.”  I’m happy to report that Judge Wilton stood his ground, saying that the young man was old enough to know that assaulting police while they were fighting for their lives was criminal.  He also noted the Bilyard’s subsequent flight to North Carolina immediately the riot ended showed that he was aware of the potential penalties for his actions and was taking steps to evade them.  Aiden Bilyard’s photograph, incidentally, gives a rather curious impression:  he resembles the somewhat androgynous youths painted by Botticelli. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,428,457; # of deaths worldwide: 6,818,967; # of cases U.S.: 105, 822,264; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,151,259.

Windy days – Hiking to Kennedy Peak – Homage to an artist – Our unreliable memories – Why the journal was written – Differences in the aftermath of the riot between the participants and the main perpetrator – Evening statistics

“Rough winds do shake the buds of May.”  And the buds of March as well, as it turns out.  It has been blustery, off and on, for the last several days, but the winds increased in power Tuesday, gusting to 50 miles per hour in some places, and Wednesday was even worse.  I had arranged with RS to hike together that day, but we had to postpone it; it was so windy in his area that it was too dangerous for him to drive any significant distance.  Later in the afternoon the wind died down and it became quiescent on the following days.

I scouted the Kennedy Peak hike with FH today, since we are to lead it on the 26^th.  It is curious how the trails shape up in memory.  I had had the impression that the Stephens Trail, which comprises the main part of the ascent, as being quite challenging, but it is fairly level for about three-quarters of its length and the remaining portion is moderate.  Again I remembered the descent from Kennedy Peak as being rocky in the extreme, but it is not:  it is rocky in some places, to be sure, and one must take care about footing during these areas, but these are neither long or numerous.  I daresay some of my recent experiences, such as the boulder fields of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, made such a trail seem like a trifle in comparison.  The hike is slightly over 9 miles and we completed it in just over 3 hours, including a break for lunch, which is very good time.  On the way back we noticed daffodils along the grassplots that run beside I-66, in greater profusion this season than I have seen in previous years.

FH told me of an episode that reflects well upon the art scene of Washington.  Yesterday evening on the Spanish Steps, a soprano and a tenor performed a five-minute opera especially commissioned on behalf of Robert Darling, who has had a long and distinguished career as a director and a set designer for theaters.  I myself have seen some of his sets (including an especially imaginative one of The Winter’s Tale at the Folger).  He is, regrettably, losing his health and has recently become blind in addition.  FH told me that he and his wife have put up their house for sale and are planning to live in a farm in rural Pennsylvania; which reminded me of the discussion I and my fellow-hikers of the Vigorous Hikers earlier this week about the solitary house espied from Raven Rocks – such retreats certainly are beautiful in fair weather, but are inconvenient at best and are downright dangerous under the current circumstances, for his wife as well as he is in declining health.  His wife confided to FH that she now was entertaining doubts about this decision, but that they had committed themselves to this course and had no choice but to adhere to it.

In connection with this hiking experience that demonstrated the unreliability of memory – DC sent me a link to a recent article in the Washington Post that discussed how the populace as a whole has already lost memories of what life was like during the pandemic at its height.  At all times some loss of memory of events immediately after they happen is inevitable, but in the case of COVID, the sheer amount of information to be processed (mandates, social distancing guidelines, the seemingly endless number of variants and sub-variants, etc.) made it impossible for most people to remember all that we as a nation have undergone.  “Even for such salient emotional events and salient life-threatening events,” said Suparna Rajaram, psychology professor who researches the social transmission of memory at Stony Brook University, “that the more you have of it, the more you will have trouble capturing all of them.”  This is not, of course, an especially novel discovery.  Marcel Proust says much the same thing in Remembrance of Things Past.  Then, too, many simply do not wish to remember such troubling times.  The influenza epidemic in the early years of the 20^th century infected a third of the world’s population and killed 50 million people, statistics that make those of COVID seem almost benign in comparison.  Yet it faded from consciousness fairly rapidly.  “Will the COVID-19 pandemic have the same fate and memory?” Rajaram said. “I think to the extent that the past is a predictor of the future, the answer is yes.”

At all events, that has been my main reason for initiating and maintaining the journal.  I knew in advance that my powers of memory were not be relied upon.  Sooner or later my personal impressions of the pandemic must and will fade.  But they can be recalled now whenever I consult my notes from the past; and I believe this ability to recall them to be of importance.  Perhaps that is merely egotism on my part.

Of course the journal of any single person can provide only a small sampling of the events and of people’s reactions to them.  As I have repeatedly stressed in my entries, my experiences during this time were significantly less stressful than those of the majority of others:  no substantive health issues, no loss of close relatives or friends to the disease, secure financial conditions, a social network that provided support even during the days when isolation was at its most intense.  I hope other people have been keeping notes in some odd corners of our nation, people who have been affected more directly by the disease.  But it may well be that such an effort is proportionately too painful for those people best qualified by their experiences to tell us just how devastating the pandemic proved to be.

From Through the Looking Glass, when Alice asks the Knight whether the song he is preparing to sing for her is long:

“‘It’s long,’ said the Knight, ‘but it’s very beautiful.  Everybody that hears me sing it – either it brings tears into their eyes, or else –‘

“‘Or else what?’ said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.

“‘Or else it doesn’t, you know.’”

And so it is with the participants of the January 6^th riots.  Either the remorse they undergo for their treason brings tears into their eyes,

– as in the case of one Robert Palmer, who wept repeatedly when he pleaded guilty today to attacking Capitol Police with a fire extinguisher at the Capitol riot while dressed in a red, white, and blue Trump jacket, with his lawyer naturally citing these tears as evidence of the regret he feels in hopes of inducing the judge to mitigate the upcoming sentence –

or else it doesn’t, you know: 

“Patriotic Americans are being prosecuted for peacefully protesting a stolen election.  Let them go! They were convicted, or are awaiting trial, based on a giant lie, a radical left con job.”  Need I say that the speaker is none other than Donald Trump?

But although the tinsel-winged butterflies who allowed Trump to use them as his instruments have been have been repeatedly broken on the wheel by our courts, he himself remains unscathed.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 682,345,663; # of deaths worldwide: 6,818,554; # of cases U.S.: 105,810,271; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,151,166.

Circumstances when name changes have their uses – On the Appalachian Trail – The disadvantages of picturesque house settings – A tragedy from the time of COVID’s early phase – Prisoners deployed in the Ukrainian war – Evening statistics

I have complained about the recent mania for changes of names of streets, buildings, etc., when they are nothing but a futile gesture but that does not mean that I would have all names retained when better ones are available.  Recently a school in our neighborhood named for Sidney Lanier has been renamed in honor of Katherine Johnson.  Lanier was, irrespective of his Confederate associations, quite a minor poet, whose works are read now only by academics.  The interest of his productions is mainly historical rather than intrinsic, since he was writing at a time when American poetry was in its infancy.  But few persons could read his poetry with pleasure today if they were unaware of the identity of its author.  Whereas Katherine Johnson was one of the pivotal mathematicians of the 20^th century, whose participation in the Apollo project was specifically requested by John Glenn, to the extent of his saying that he would not venture in the mission that was to make him the first American to orbit in space unless he had her expertise and accuracy in calculations to provide him with a guarantee of his safety.  It seems fairly obvious that Johnson is by far more significant figure of the two.  I have no objection to changing the name of a school or a street when such a change is a clear gain.

A difficult hike today! – going along the Appalachian Trail from Snickers Gap to the boardwalk about 1½ miles north of the Blackburn Trail Center and back again.  The first four miles, which comprise the northern end of the so-called Roller Coaster, are extremely rocky and in some areas reminiscent of the trail in Northern Pennsylvania at its worst.  And the weather was not very cooperative – not wet, indeed, but cold and blustery, especially in the afternoon.  But we had some good fortune when we lunched outside the Blackburn Trail Center, when the wind moderated and the clouds parted temporarily.  In addition, the bird’s-eye views of Winchester Valley from Raven Rocks are as splendid as ever and although there were numerous clouds in the sky the sun managed to shine through them. 

It was while contemplating the various summits of the range on the other side of the valley that we noticed one house perched in the mountains in glorious isolation, commanding extensive views from its terrace.  One of the hikers commented on how enviable such a house location must be; to which I responded that such residences look idyllic under fair weather but that they are far from convenient for the purposes of daily tasks such as shopping for groceries and other necessities, and that during emergencies such as sudden illness the residents would have to pray for a dearth of rain or snow, which have the potential of making roads in such areas impassable.  After some discussion, the others agreed.  In this connection MW mentioned one couple of his acquaintance who moved into just such a location, only to move back barely a year later to a more urban setting as he and his wife began to suffer from deteriorating health and symptoms that required continual medical treatment.

Alas, medical safety in urban areas can be precarious as well.  The Silverado Beverly Place, an assisted-living facility in Los Angeles County, has just been charged with elder endangerment (which is a felony) after thirteen residents and one nurse died there from a COVID outbreak.  A new resident was admitted on March 19, 2020, without first being tested for COVID or quarantined for 14 days prior to admission, as required by California health protocols, even though the patient had just arrived from a “hotspot” in New York. The new patient began showing COVID symptoms a day after arrival and tested positive for the virus that evening.  Eventually sixty residents and forty-five employees at the facility contracted the disease.  One should remember, even in these days when the virus has to a great extent been brought under control as a result of the vaccines, the mortality rate of COVID in its early phases before condemning what some critics call our national “over-reaction.”

Russia appears to be running out of men to send to the war in Ukraine.  There are reports of a train in the Donetsk region transporting prisoners to the battlefields, women as well as men.  Several thousand male prisoners have been recruited, with promises of reduced sentences or even pardons if they acquit themselves well (and also, obviously, if they survive the battles in which they participate).  It is estimated that about 100 women prisoners have been recruited, chiefly to work as farm laborers in nearby greenhouses and cowsheds to supply the army with food.  There will probably be more to come. Such a move is not likely go over well with the Russians generally, since on the whole they disapprove of women serving in the military.  Many women sought to join ranks in the 2010s, but they were not permitted in frontline combat roles, barred from holding ranks higher than colonel, and denied jobs such as driver, mechanic, sniper, or gunner.  During a 2020 poll conducted by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Centre, 63% of Russians said they didn’t want a daughter of theirs to join the military and 42% said that “the army is not a woman’s business, the army is for men.” 

Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 681,761,350; # of deaths worldwide: 6,813,307; # of cases U.S.: 105, 665,981; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,149,253.

An explanation of the decreasing frequency of journal entries – Trump still dominates the GOP, despite their struggles – Some manifestations of anti-Confederate sentiment – The progress of spring – A visit to the theatre – Evening statistics

When I began the journal, writing a daily entry was almost a matter of course.  Every day seemed to bring in some new development:  generally an unfortunate one, to be sure, but at any rate it was something worth recording and it provided an element of variety.  Now, in our so-called recovery phase, there is less to record, at least with respect to the COVID virus.  Are all recovery periods from epidemics as long and drawn-out as this one, I wonder?  There are many accounts of plagues and epidemics throughout history, but accounts of the transition from these back to normality are much harder to track down. 

Yes, various events have occurred during the interval between this entry and the previous one:  various hikes, of course – scouting for a hike in the Camp Rapidan area that I will be leading for CHC at the end of the month, leading a loop from Colvin Mill via Lake Fairfax and the Cross-County Trail.  Various legal experts continue to predict dire consequences for Donald Trump as a result of various criminal investigations (the Manhattan hush money probe, the Fulton County investigation into attempted election fraud, the January 6^th community investigation, the investigation about the classified documents Trump stored in his private residence).  These investigations having taken months to complete and the experts have been maintaining the aforesaid predictions for months on end, without seeing a single one of them come to pass.  The GOP is becoming increasingly jittery about espousing Trump, especially since he has recently described the January 6^th rioters as “patriots” – a statement that has reinforced the decline in his approval rating among the populace at large.  But, as the Republicans have belatedly come to realize, they are stuck with him.  “Ignore it, deflect it all you want,” said Mike Noble, the chief of research and managing partner at the polling firm OH Predictive Insights. “This is, right now, going to be the Trump show . . .  The oxygen is just going to be sucked out of the room focusing on Trump.”  “The press likes him – he’s the story, he’s conflict,” said longtime GOP strategist Beth Miller. “How do you continue not to write about him?”

Then, too, the revulsion against the long-standing legend of the heroic Confederacy is in recent days being carried to unusual extremes, some of them rather ludicrous.  For example, the road running through Fairfax that used to be called Old Lee Highway has been renamed to Blenheim Boulevard, taking this new name from that of a substantial farm whose main house is still standing in the neighborhood and is maintained as a historic site.  Since Blenheim, like the majority of substantial households beneath the Mason-Dixon line, was a slave-owning farm during the days of antebellum South, I do not see what advantage this name-change confers.  Similarly, when I recently went along the Appalachian Trail between Rtes. 522 and 55, I noticed that the signpost for the Mosby campground had been taken down, so that the turnoff to the spur trail that leads to the campground has become barely noticeable.  Mosby is quite a sympathetic figure, to my mind.  He disapproved of slavery in general and entered the Civil War without enthusiasm.  Although he was an effective soldier for the Confederacy, he displayed no nostalgia for the antebellum after the war was over, refused to cater to Southerners who resisted the Reconstruction, became a firm friend of Ulysses Grant, and said openly that the cause of the Civil War was slavery and nothing else, in the teeth of all of the excuses that various apologists for the secession maintained.  Although he kept a slave during the Civil War, he seems to have treated the man well – sufficiently well, at any rate, for them to maintain a friendly correspondence with each other after the war up to the 1890s.  I don’t see the advantage of eradicating his name from the trail, particularly as the subsequent absence of signage makes the campground more difficult for hikers to locate than it was before.

Spring progresses with the riotous profusion that is characteristic of the region here.  Many bushes are already covered with leaves, hellebore is in full bloom, the tendrils of the willows are newly green.  Pear trees and cherry trees, hyacinth and forsythia are all flowering; the crocuses, first blossoms of the season, are nearly gone by now.  Every year I see this transformation I am struck as much by its relentlessness as by its beauty.  Each day at this time of the year sees a new change and any wish for a brief halt to provide sufficient leisure for savoring a particular stage of this process is a wish made in vain; the growth can be contained by no one. 

So there is no shortage of new developments.  But they are not, or at least not directly, COVID-related.  The only episode this week on a personal level that marks the waning influence of the disease is my attendance of a theatre performance – the first one I’ve been to December, 2021, and even that one was at a church that contained a much smaller number of seats than an ordinary theatre.  This one took place at the Klein Theatre (formerly the Shakespeare Theatre), which can seat nearly 800 people.  I wore a face mask, both in the theatre itself and on the Metro rides I took back and forth to the city.  (As noted earlier, it is much easier to use public transportation to go downtown than to drive there.)  But I felt démodé, like one who has clung to a style of dressing months after it has gone out of fashion, for not many others were taking this precaution.  Evidently people have become sufficiently confident to revert to pre-pandemic behavior in this respect, although personally I do not think that the data justify this conclusion. 

It is true that the hospitalization and death rates from COVID continue to decline.  As of this writing there are fewer than 17,000 COVID patients in hospitals throughout the nation, a much smaller amount than there had been a year earlier.  At this point the death rate is under 300 per day, also a significant decrease.  But it is still fairly substantial.  Over the past twelve months we lost slightly under 42,000 to influenza, which works out to about 115 per day.  Thus even at this reduced rate, which has been in effect for only a few weeks, COVID is still more than twice as deadly as influenza. 

Returning to the theatre visit, I received the evening program in rather an unexpected fashion.  Instead of a printed program of several pages I was given a single page with QR code on it, which I scanned with a phone – adjusting the phone’s settings, of course, to use the theatre’s Wifi – and thereby downloaded the program to view on the phone’s screen.  Doubtless such a procedure, although a novelty to me, will become standard practice in future. 

As to the play itself, it was a performance of King Lear. Since the play is a favorite of mine and it is difficult for me to resist the temptation to be profuse on the subject, I will defer my impressions of this interpretation to another entry.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 681,603,603; # of deaths worldwide: 6,812,235; # of cases U.S.: 105,608,305; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,148,828.

Lost River State Park – Elon Musk – Sergei Lavrov – A Russian oligarch dodges assassination – A recipe from a Department of Natural Resources – Kim Jong Un’s elusive children – The early spring – Evening statistics

Another long pause in the journal, in part due to the fact that I was away for the weekend, staying with several friends at cabins in Lost River State Park.  We were fortunate in our weather.  It was, to be sure, cold and damp and rainy on Friday, the day that we all drove up and checked in, but afterwards the weather was clear and dry, growing steadily warmer each day.  As with the previous trip, we went on various hikes both in and out of the park, and then assembled to converse and feast and play board games afterwards.  There were fourteen of us in all, which made for lively evenings.  We were scattered about in three cabins; we held dinners in the largest one of the three, in which I among others was staying.  In some cases I had not seen members of this group for a long time.  The issue of not seeing various friends for months on end is still one of the legacies of COVID.

Here are the hikes we did during this trip:

3/4, Half Moon, 6½ miles, 1200’ elevation

The park is close to Great North Mountain, which has several trails with overlooks that draw hikers from many different areas.  Half Moon Overlook is reached by a trail that at one point goes up a short, steep rock path, nestled in dark-green pines.  It provides one of the best views of the Trout Run Valley, with Big Schloss prominently displayed on the range opposite the overlook.  The blue of the sky was accentuated by the cumulus clouds spaced at irregular intervals, which cast shadows on portions of the valley and thereby highlighted those areas illuminated by the sun.  Ordinarily the hikes I’ve taken to this overlook involve going up the German Wilson Trail, which is extremely arduous, ascending nearly 1000 feet in less than a mile, and going to and fro for the first quarter-mile about a rocky ravine that generally is wet and slippery even on dry days.  The route we took on this occasion was a pleasant alternative, starting from the base of the Halfmoon Trail (there is a parking area at the trailhead) and gradually ascending to the Halfmoon Lookout Trail that leads to the overlook.

The hike was relatively short and for that reason we returned early.  I went on my own for an additional four miles on some of the trails in the park itself.  Specifically, I did a circuit involved the Staghorn, Woodthrush, East Ridge, Covey Cove, Copse Cove, Lee, and Light Horse Harry Lee Trails, using the Pine Ridge Road (which actually is another trail, despite the name, and has no automobile traffic except for an occasional park service vehicle) to connect between the Covey Cove and Copse Cove Trails.  This was less enjoyable than previous rambles in the park have been.  Lost River State Park has suffered greatly during the winter storms and many of the trails contained dozens of blowdowns.  There is little evidence of anyone attempting to clear them; but the park service for many states, and for West Virginia in particular, is short-staffed and it cannot be easy to maintain a network of trails that cover dozens of miles.  Even though this additional hike was only four miles, it was slow going, taking me a good hour-and-a-half to complete it.

3/5, Cranny Crow and Miller’s Rock, 12 miles, 2000’ elevation

The weather was warmer and less windy on this day than it had been on Saturday, although the wind intensified as we reached higher elevations.  We took a slightly different route than we generally have done on previous visits to the park, using the Big Ridge Trail from the walk along the disused road instead of following the road all the way to the junction with Miller’s Rock Trail.  That trail was reasonably clear, but when we turned along the Virginia View Trail the way became rougher, with several blowdowns to go around, for it was impossible to climb over them.  At Cranny Crow itself the wind blew fiercely and we stayed at the overlook only a few minutes, preferring to lunch behind the overlook structure itself to obtain some shelter.  It was at Cranny Crow on a previous visit, incidentally, that upon contemplating the lofty views encompassing six counties the divine afflatus seized me and inspired me to compose the following immortal lines:

Upon the top of Cranny Crow
I met up with my mortal foe;
I could not think, I did not know
I’d dash him down the rocks below –
How pleasant that it happened so!

Afterwards we took the Miller’s Rock Trail to the fire tower.  Here several members of the group turned back to return, but others went on all the way to Miller’s Rock itself.  The views from the rock, incidentally, are somewhat limited on account of the trees obscuring one’s line of vision, but an outcropping just a few yards from the rock provides an extensive vista to the east, including the unincorporated town of Lost River in the valley below and of Great North Mountain on the other side of the valley.  The hike thus described is actually only ten miles.  It was longer for me than for the others, because the others chose to drive to the trailhead, whereas I decided to walk the additional mile to the trailhead and the additional mile from the trailhead back to the cabins. 

3/6, Trout Pond, 4 miles, 550’ elevation

Most of us wished to do an additional hike after we checked out of the cabins, so we went to Trout Pond, which involved only a short detour during the drive back home.  We parked at the area just before the gate for the Trout Pond Recreational Area (which was closed for the season) and took a loop via the Fisherman’s, Lake, Chimney Rock, and Trout Pond Trails.  We went at a leisurely pace, savoring the sun and the increasingly warm temperatures, with many views of the lake along the appropriately-named Lake Trail.  The hike was of modest length and elevation gain, but it included three stream crossings; and, since the streams were particularly full after the rain of the previous week, they provided a bit of a challenge.  Happily those of us who did the complete hike crossed them without any mishap.

Afterwards we all lunched together at Toltecas, a Mexican restaurant in Strasburg, and one that I can thoroughly recommend.  The food is delicious and not at all expensive, and it has unusual décor, with chairs containing enamel coverings on their backs with Aztec-themed images.  Here we ate and chatted before saying our farewells to each other and returning our separate ways.

As always, such episodes in our relatively carefree and relaxed lives contrast vividly with events in more exalted circles.

Recently Elon Musk – who has been praised for years as a paragon of ingenuity – lately received the following tribute from Joshua Erlich, an employment and civil rights attorney based in Virginia:  “lord grant me defendants this dumb.”  The event that prompted this remark was the case of Haraldur Thorleifsson, who had worked for Twitter since February 2021, when he sold his digital brand agency to the company.  Thorleifsson suffers from muscular dystrophy, which has been steadily increasing his disabilities.  At one point he tweeted at Musk, claiming that he had lost access to his work computer alongside roughly 200 other staffers. Subsequently, he said, the company’s human resources department would not confirm whether he was still employed, while Musk ignored his emails.  Musk responded by terminating him and afterwards publicly mocking him on Internet.  Thorleiksson has not filed a lawsuit yet, but, as Erlich’s comment indicates, he probably could win one if he did.   I hope he will.  No doubt any damages awarded to him would be too insignificant to make any appreciable dent in Musk’s financial holdings, but anything that tarnishes Musk’s inexplicable reputation for brilliance would be only too welcome.

Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov and U. S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met at the G20 talks in India.  Afterwards, at the Raisina Dialog conference, also held in India, Lavr

Lost River State Park – Elon Musk – Sergei Lavrov – A Russian oligarch dodges assassination – A recipe from a Department of Natural Resources – Kim Jong Un’s elusive children – The early spring – Evening statistics

Another long pause in the journal, in part due to the fact that I was away for the weekend, staying with several friends at cabins in Lost River State Park.  We were fortunate in our weather.  It was, to be sure, cold and damp and rainy on Friday, the day that we all drove up and checked in, but afterwards the weather was clear and dry, growing steadily warmer each day.  As with the previous trip, we went on various hikes both in and out of the park, and then assembled to converse and feast and play board games afterwards.  There were fourteen of us in all, which made for lively evenings.  We were scattered about in three cabins; we held dinners in the largest one of the three, in which I among others was staying.  In some cases I had not seen members of this group for a long time.  The issue of not seeing various friends for months on end is still one of the legacies of COVID.

Here are the hikes we did during this trip:

3/4, Half Moon, 6½ miles, 1200’ elevation

The park is close to Great North Mountain, which has several trails with overlooks that draw hikers from many different areas.  Half Moon Overlook is reached by a trail that at one point goes up a short, steep rock path, nestled in dark-green pines.  It provides one of the best views of the Trout Run Valley, with Big Schloss prominently displayed on the range opposite the overlook.  The blue of the sky was accentuated by the cumulus clouds spaced at irregular intervals, which cast shadows on portions of the valley and thereby highlighted those areas illuminated by the sun.  Ordinarily the hikes I’ve taken to this overlook involve going up the German Wilson Trail, which is extremely arduous, ascending nearly 1000 feet in less than a mile, and going to and fro for the first quarter-mile about a rocky ravine that generally is wet and slippery even on dry days.  The route we took on this occasion was a pleasant alternative, starting from the base of the Halfmoon Trail (there is a parking area at the trailhead) and gradually ascending to the Halfmoon Lookout Trail that leads to the overlook.

The hike was relatively short and for that reason we returned early.  I went on my own for an additional four miles on some of the trails in the park itself.  Specifically, I did a circuit involved the Staghorn, Woodthrush, East Ridge, Covey Cove, Copse Cove, Lee, and Light Horse Harry Lee Trails, using the Pine Ridge Road (which actually is another trail, despite the name, and has no automobile traffic except for an occasional park service vehicle) to connect between the Covey Cove and Copse Cove Trails.  This was less enjoyable than previous rambles in the park have been.  Lost River State Park has suffered greatly during the winter storms and many of the trails contained dozens of blowdowns.  There is little evidence of anyone attempting to clear them; but the park service for many states, and for West Virginia in particular, is short-staffed and it cannot be easy to maintain a network of trails that cover dozens of miles.  Even though this additional hike was only four miles, it was slow going, taking me a good hour-and-a-half to complete it.

3/5, Cranny Crow and Miller’s Rock, 12 miles, 2000’ elevation

The weather was warmer and less windy on this day than it had been on Saturday, although the wind intensified as we reached higher elevations.  We took a slightly different route than we generally have done on previous visits to the park, using the Big Ridge Trail from the walk along the disused road instead of following the road all the way to the junction with Miller’s Rock Trail.  That trail was reasonably clear, but when we turned along the Virginia View Trail the way became rougher, with several blowdowns to go around, for it was impossible to climb over them.  At Cranny Crow itself the wind blew fiercely and we stayed at the overlook only a few minutes, preferring to lunch behind the overlook structure itself to obtain some shelter.  It was at Cranny Crow on a previous visit, incidentally, that upon contemplating the lofty views encompassing six counties the divine afflatus seized me and inspired me to compose the following immortal lines:

Upon the top of Cranny Crow

I met up with my mortal foe;

I could not think, I did not know

I’d dash him down the rocks below –

How pleasant that it happened so!

Afterwards we took the Miller’s Rock Trail to the fire tower.  Here several members of the group turned back to return, but others went on all the way to Miller’s Rock itself.  The views from the rock, incidentally, are somewhat limited on account of the trees obscuring one’s line of vision, but an outcropping just a few yards from the rock provides an extensive vista to the east, including the unincorporated town of Lost River in the valley below and of Great North Mountain on the other side of the valley.  The hike thus described is actually only ten miles.  It was longer for me than for the others, because the others chose to drive to the trailhead, whereas I decided to walk the additional mile to the trailhead and the additional mile from the trailhead back to the cabins. 

3/6, Trout Pond, 4 miles, 550’ elevation

Most of us wished to do an additional hike after we checked out of the cabins, so we went to Trout Pond, which involved only a short detour during the drive back home.  We parked at the area just before the gate for the Trout Pond Recreational Area (which was closed for the season) and took a loop via the Fisherman’s, Lake, Chimney Rock, and Trout Pond Trails.  We went at a leisurely pace, savoring the sun and the increasingly warm temperatures, with many views of the lake along the appropriately-named Lake Trail.  The hike was of modest length and elevation gain, but it included three stream crossings; and, since the streams were particularly full after the rain of the previous week, they provided a bit of a challenge.  Happily those of us who did the complete hike crossed them without any mishap.

Afterwards we all lunched together at Toltecas, a Mexican restaurant in Strasburg, and one that I can thoroughly recommend.  The food is delicious and not at all expensive, and it has unusual décor, with chairs containing enamel coverings on their backs with Aztec-themed images.  Here we ate and chatted before saying our farewells to each other and returning our separate ways.

As always, such episodes in our relatively carefree and relaxed lives contrast vividly with events in more exalted circles.

Recently Elon Musk – who has been praised for years as a paragon of ingenuity – lately received the following tribute from Joshua Erlich, an employment and civil rights attorney based in Virginia:  “lord grant me defendants this dumb.”  The event that prompted this remark was the case of Haraldur Thorleifsson, who had worked for Twitter since February 2021, when he sold his digital brand agency to the company.  Thorleifsson suffers from muscular dystrophy, which has been steadily increasing his disabilities.  At one point he tweeted at Musk, claiming that he had lost access to his work computer alongside roughly 200 other staffers. Subsequently, he said, the company’s human resources department would not confirm whether he was still employed, while Musk ignored his emails.  Musk responded by terminating him and afterwards publicly mocking him on Internet.  Thorleiksson has not filed a lawsuit yet, but, as Erlich’s comment indicates, he probably could win one if he did.   I hope he will.  No doubt any damages awarded to him would be too insignificant to make any appreciable dent in Musk’s financial holdings, but anything that tarnishes Musk’s inexplicable reputation for brilliance would be only too welcome.

Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov and U. S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met at the G20 talks in India.  Afterwards, at the Raisina Dialog conference, also held in India, Lavrov at one point referred to “the war which we are trying to stop and which was launched against us.”  The attendees of the conference, including a plethora of journalists, erupted in derisive laughter at this remark, to his visible embarrassment and, in all probability, his suppressed rage as well. 

The Russian government is making some other claims in addition, the probability of which is left to the reader to decide.  For instance, Russian state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti has announced that it has forestalled an assassination attempt by Ukrainians on Konstantin Malofeev, a public figure and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tsargrad group of companies.  Malofeev is a vocal supporter of Putin and of the war in Ukraine in particular.  By an amazing coincidence, the assassination attempts upon oligarchs who have gone on record as disagreeing with Putin’s policies have been consistently successful.

It appears that the state of Utah is desperately in need of French chefs.  The state’s Department of Natural Resources is urging residences to catch bullfrogs and eat them.  The bullfrogs are an invasive species that, among their other activities, consume three species of native frogs that are threatened or struggling to repopulate in Utah.  Ja Eggert, a hunting supervisor for the DNR, has provided detailed instructions for catching and skinning the bullfrogs, and in addition has helpfully included a recipe for breaded frog legs – which is not ordinarily the sort of information one would expect to receive from a state DNR. 

A few details are emerging about Kim Ju Ae, the nine-year old daughter of Kim Jong Un who was paraded about recently at various official events this past November.  These are fairly meager, concentrating principally upon her hobbies – horseback riding, swimming, and skiing; but they are a wealth of information in comparison with those of her two siblings, of whom even their gender cannot be ascertained.  The eldest of the three is said to be a boy, but there is no direct evidence to support this claim.  If Kim Jong Un and Boris Johnson ever meet face-to-face, assuredly they will compare notes about the best methods of concealing one’s offspring.

It will come as no surprise, after the numerous references that I have made to unseasonably warm days in both January and February, that spring has arrived early this year.  Pear and cherry trees are blossoming; daffodils are in full flower; in my garden the hyacinths are beginning to unfurl their chalices – and all of this some two weeks before the equinox.  In many parts of the country snow has fallen in abundance, coming down in California in such profusion that there are hopes that the snowmelt will relieve the drought that has prevailed there for some years.  Here we have had next to no snow at all.  The well-known cherry trees at the Tidal Basin may reach their peak as early as March 21^st or 22^nd, just a day or so after spring officially begins.

ov at one point referred to “the war which we are trying to stop and which was launched against us.”  The attendees of the conference, including a plethora of journalists, erupted in derisive laughter at this remark, to his visible embarrassment and, in all probability, his suppressed rage as well. 

The Russian government is making some other claims in addition, the probability of which is left to the reader to decide.  For instance, Russian state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti has announced that it has forestalled an assassination attempt by Ukrainians on Konstantin Malofeev, a public figure and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tsargrad group of companies.  Malofeev is a vocal supporter of Putin and of the war in Ukraine in particular.  By an amazing coincidence, the assassination attempts upon oligarchs who have gone on record as disagreeing with Putin’s policies have been consistently successful.

It appears that the state of Utah is desperately in need of French chefs.  The state’s Department of Natural Resources is urging residences to catch bullfrogs and eat them.  The bullfrogs are an invasive species that, among their other activities, consume three species of native frogs that are threatened or struggling to repopulate in Utah.  Ja Eggert, a hunting supervisor for the DNR, has provided detailed instructions for catching and skinning the bullfrogs, and in addition has helpfully included a recipe for breaded frog legs – which is not ordinarily the sort of information one would expect to receive from a state DNR. 

A few details are emerging about Kim Ju Ae, the nine-year old daughter of Kim Jong Un who was paraded about recently at various official events this past November.  These are fairly meager, concentrating principally upon her hobbies – horseback riding, swimming, and skiing; but they are a wealth of information in comparison with those of her two siblings, of whom even their gender cannot be ascertained.  The eldest of the three is said to be a boy, but there is no direct evidence to support this claim.  If Kim Jong Un and Boris Johnson ever meet face-to-face, assuredly they will compare notes about the best methods of concealing one’s offspring.

It will come as no surprise, after the numerous references that I have made to unseasonably warm days in both January and February, that spring has arrived early this year.  Pear and cherry trees are blossoming; daffodils are in full flower; in my garden the hyacinths are beginning to unfurl their chalices – and all of this some two weeks before the equinox.  In many parts of the country snow has fallen in abundance, coming down in California in such profusion that there are hopes that the snowmelt will relieve the drought that has prevailed there for some years.  Here we have had next to no snow at all.  The well-known cherry trees at the Tidal Basin may reach their peak as early as March 21^st or 22^nd, just a day or so after spring officially begins.