Hiking in Shenandoah National Park – Car traffic – International travel restrictions – Plans for a rally in Tulsa – Brazil continues to spiral downwards – Evening statistics
The weather continues to be relatively cool and dry for this time of year. The members of the Vigorous Hikers group were grateful for this circumstance, for the hike in Shenandoah National Park that we completed today was somewhat more arduous than we expected. No one was very much surprised, for the member of the group who devised the route has a reputation for under-estimating the scope of his projects. In this particular case the route he devised was advertised to be 15.5 miles in length with about 3500 feet of elevation gain; in the event it proved to be 18 miles, with 4600 feet of elevation gain. It involved two troublesome descents (the descent, as I frequently tell people whom I have coached through long hikes, is the most dangerous part of any hike) through patches of wet rocks, stream crossings, and intermittent marshes. But we were rewarded when ascending the Hazel Mountain Trail by encountering an extensive grove of mountain laurel in full bloom. For those who have not seen densely-grown thickets of mountain laurel bushes all flowering at the same time, the effect is not easy to describe. The full-grown bushes can reach a height of 9 meters (28 feet) and in full bloom the brilliant white flowers edged with pink grow closely together – frequently less than a centimeter apart from one another – from about a foot from the ground all the way up to the top of the bushes. We took the ascents at a brisk but not an exhausting pace and we possessed our souls in patience as we completed the final climb along the Hannah Run Trail up to Skyline Drive – it has a large number of “false summits,” or points in the trail that appear to signify the end of the climb, only to reveal a loftier point further on when the apparent high point is reached; the designers of the trail have contoured it thus, apparently, “to annoy, because they know it teases.” In the colder months the actual high point of the trail would be more readily apparent, but we are approaching summer now and the density of the foliage provides a very effective screen for optical illusions of this nature. There were nine of us in all, but we encountered only four other people during the entirety of the circuit we completed.
Traffic remains denser than it was when the lockdown restrictions were initially introduced but is still considerably lighter than normal. I could discern no appreciable difference in the traffic today and the traffic that I encountered during the drive to and from Shenandoah National Park last week.
Travel restrictions remain in force for people who wish to visit Canada or Mexico. The restrictions had been scheduled to be lifted several times, but at each date they have been extended. The most recent expiration date was set at June 23rd, but that has now changed and we can expect to see the restrictions last for at last 30 days longer. But oddly enough, restrictions are loosening on flights to and from China. The Department of Transportation has allowed four flights weekly between the two countries. It must be added that the number of cases in China, officially at least, is less than that of either Canada or Mexico and that proportionately it has affected a far lower ratio of its national population.
Preparations are underway for the rally on Saturday in support of Donald Trump at Tulsa. Various medical experts are understandably alarmed at the prospect of an event that plans to crowd 19,000 people packed into an indoor arena with an additional overflow seating for 9,000 more. Face masks will be encouraged but they are not required; and in any case it is unknown how effective they will be when the wearers are shouting. Shouting and screaming at the top of one’s lungs is an essential component of any Trump rally; not only does he exhort his auditors to rant like maniacs but, like the best philosophers, he reinforces precept with example and he may be depended upon not to utter a single sentence at this event in a normal conversational tone.
Brazil is now projected to overtake the U.S. in its number of cases and virus-related deaths by the end of July. There has been no national lockdown, no national testing campaign, and no agreed-upon plan for mitigation. Some of the governors have tried to institute such measures for their own particular states, but they have been getting no support nationally. The current health minister is a military man with no medical experience. At this point the hardest-hit cities are now deciding to open up, opening the doors to malls and churches, while the country is routinely posting more than 30,000 new cases a day — five times more than Italy reported at the peak of its outbreak.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 8,251,064; # of deaths worldwide: 445,185; # of cases U.S.: 2,208,240; # of deaths U.S.: 119,129.