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 6th 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.