February 7-8, 2022

Ottawa remains paralyzed – At Shenandoah National Park – Old Rag permits – A rioter’s previous encounters with the law – Evening statistics

Not many new developments on COVID recently, unless the ongoing siege – er, um, I mean protest – in Ottawa can be considered one.  Trudeau has given a speech in which he said, “This must stop!” – but he does nothing to stop it.  The Canadian police remain inert. 

I went today with the Vigorous Hikers up the Nicholson Hollow and Hannah Run Trails to Skyline Drive, from which we bushwhacked for about ¼ mile or so to the Appalachian Trail, returning via the Corbin Cabin Cutoff, Indian Run, and Corbin Mountain Trails.  I had no wish for the temperature to remain below freezing, as I usually do on winter hikes.  There was a sharp wind blowing through much of Shenandoah National Park, especially at the ridgeline that the AT traverses.  Even though the temperature was warmer than some of my recent hikes it felt considerably colder.  Then, too, the hike involved numerous stream crossings, and it was a matter of some concern that that boulders used for crossing them should not be coated with ice.  The Hughes River, which is rather a temperamental little stream, was full as a result of recent rains and of snowmelt from previous storms, and was running high enough to make the tops of many of these rocks wet.  Initially, in fact, the route was planned out to go in the opposite direction, ascending via Corbin Mountain and descending via Hannah Run, but we reversed our direction in the hope that the ice at the crossing to the Corbin Mountain Trail would be gone in the afternoon – as indeed proved to be the case.  We had many fine views of the valleys both to the east and the west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially at Jewell Hollow.  Hardly anyone was driving on Skyline Drive and we saw no one else on the trails, even at the popular Pinnacles picnic area. 

We did indeed see other people in the parking area, but they all went to hike Old Rag; the trailheads for Old Rag and for the Nicholson Hollow Trail are accessed by the same parking lot.  This has become a matter of some concern – for me at least, as one who has plotted out many hikes in that area.  Starting from next month, as part of an attempt to control the crowds who hike Old Rag, people will need to obtain permits to do so, and the permits must be obtained in advance.  Will this regulation affect those who are using the parking area to go to the Nicholson Hollow Trail?  The trail has junctions with about half-a-dozen others, and is therefore the basis of many circuit hikes.  I have contacted the Park Service about this matter but so far have received noreply; possibly they themselves are uncertain on this point.

Matthew Jason Beddingfield, one of the rioters of the January 6th insurrection, faces felony charges of assaulting officers, impeding officers during a civil disorder and carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon on restricted Capitol grounds, as well as several misdemeanors.  What is notable about this case is not the charges – similar ones have been leveled against numerous other participants – but the fact that on January 6, 2021, he was out on bail for a first-degree attempted murder charge in connection with the December 2019 shooting of a 17-year-old in a Walmart parking lot.  Beddingfield himself was 19 at the time. He was initially held on $1 million bail, but he secured pretrial release when bail was lowered to $100,000.  Young Beddingfield is evidently moving up in the world.  Three years ago he began with an attempt at murder, two years later he participated in an attempt to overturn a national election, and in the near future we may hear of his attaining even greater claims to fame, such as bombing a crowded nightclub or setting fire to an entire district.

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 398,005,400; # of deaths worldwide: 5,768,461; # of cases U.S.: 78,370,413; # of deaths; U.S.: 928,883. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 400,297,492; # of deaths worldwide: 5,781,227; # of cases U.S.: 78,540,922; # of deaths; U.S.: 932,369.