Hiking in Shenandoah National Park – Reluctance of people to go outside in winter – Initial reactions to Brexit – Evening statistics
Along the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park the level of snow on the trails was much lower than upon the Alleghenies. There was perhaps a half-inch in all, and very firmly packed. I went with AD and RH along the Appalachian Trail, starting from the Pinnacles picnic area to Stony Man, making a loop via the Passamaquoddy Trail and the horse trail back to the AT, then down the Nicholson Hollow Trail and up again via the Corbin Cabin Cutoff Trail back to the AT and the Pinnacles: about 11 miles in all, with 2900 feet of elevation gain. It was very much like a typical long hike of the Wanderbirds. In the morning, even though the temperature was in the low 20s, it felt much warmer on account of the sun-filled skies and absence of wind. It began to get a bit overcast by the time we were descending on the Nicholson Hollow Trail, so that even though it was warmer by then it actually felt colder. I used micro-spikes for going along the Passamaquoddy Trail, which gets icy very easily; it is on the west side of the mountain, angled somewhat to the north, so that it is continually receiving winds as a result of fronts moving in. As matters turned out, there were only a few icy patches, but the spikes were useful for providing traction on the packed snow. In some respects hiking that particular trail today was less difficult than it usually is: it is very rocky, and the snow covering the rocks smoothed out many of the irregular surfaces in the path and made balance easier. Of course we paused at the views from the Passamaquoddy Trail and the Little Stony Man Overlook, which provide some of the most extensive vistas of the Shenandoah Valley that the park has to offer.
Not many people were out today, considering that the area around Stony Man is generally fairly well-attended. Probably the colder temperatures discouraged people from going out of doors. I remember from my working days when several of my colleagues were curious about my hobby of hiking. They frequently asked, “But what do you do for exercise in winter?” They could hardly believe their ears when I told them that I and my friends went out to hike in all seasons. This reluctance to venture outside in winter than in other seasons can potentially prolong the spread of the virus even as the vaccines are being administered.
There are rumblings on the other side of the Atlantic about the newly-finalized Brexit. Recent surveys indicate that about 40% of Londoners would be open to leaving the U.K. to work in another European country. Many finance workers have already relocated to cities such as Paris and Frankfurt since the U.K. voted to leave the EU. As the vaccine starts impacting the spread of the virus and travel restrictions diminish, a significant exodus may be awaiting the U.K.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 99,736,694; # of deaths worldwide: 2,137,990; # of cases U.S.: 25,692,159; # of deaths; U.S.: 429,339.