A strenuous hike – A hiker who lacks judgment – Guy Reffit’s conviction – The Freedom Convoy – Further economic penalties for Russia – COVID still a pandemic – Evening statistics
Today I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a hike that was . . . vigorous. Specifically, we took the Appalachian Trail from Rte. 522 to Compton Peak, then descended down to Lands Run Road, ascended up to the Dickey Ridge Trail, ascended again to the AT, and then descended back to the parking area, which included another ascent during the last mile that MC, our hike leader, referred to as “Heartbreak Hill” because it was rather discouraging to encounter a 400-foot climb after hiking 18 miles and climbing over 4000 feet before arriving at it. But the day was not unseasonably warm, as it has been for the past couple of days, and the weather for the most part was rather cool but comfortable. Wildlife is beginning to stir after being relatively inactive during the winter season. We saw many deer roaming through the forest and numerous birds flying above, including pileated woodpeckers and bluejays.
On lower elevations, spring has definitely arrived. The early plants, such as forsythia, crocus, and hellebore, are in full bloom and the cherry trees are flowering.
I write about hiking a good deal and in general I like to believe that it promotes both good health and greater mental alertness. But occasionally I have my doubts about the latter, especially upon hearing reports of how erratically certain hikers behave. This past Wednesday a hiker from New York, whose name was not released, called 911 at about 7 PM to say he got lost while hiking on the Humphreys Trail in the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff. Fair enough – it is a difficult trail, ascending nearly 3400 feet in the course of about 5½ miles on rocky terrain between the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort and Humphreys Peak, the state’s highest point (12,633 feet, quite sufficient to cause altitude sickness if one is not careful). Snowcat vehicles from the ski resort drove the man off the mountain and he declined medical attention. But the very next day he called 911 again to say he needed help after injuring himself in a fall near the saddle area of Humphreys Trail. A helicopter was dispatched to pick him up, along with another hiker who had stopped to aid him. Understandably, officials from the Sheriff’s office of Coconino County, after providing the hiker with some preventative education about trail conditions during the winter season, “encouraged him to not attempt the hike again.”
Guy Reffit has been convicted. He is the January 6th rioter whose case had been taken to a jury trial, at his own request. The jury unanimously found him guilty of all charges and his sentencing is set for June 8th. Nicole Reffit, his wife, said that the verdict was “against all American people” and that she and her husband were planning to appeal the guilty finding. The trifling circumstance that Reffit threatened his own children with gunshot if they testified against him seems to have made no impression on her at all. In any case, the most negative evidence against Reffit was produced by Reffit himself. He recorded himself in various forums talking about what he planned to do and of what he eventually did. He even bragged about his conduct on a Zoom call that he recorded himself and that the government afterwards located on an external hard drive.
The Freedom Convoy has gone down to sorry defeat after encountering one of the most formidable enemy forces of all time: the DC metro rush-hour traffic. Many participating truck drivers got separated and lost amongst the numerous commuters in their cars, while a white pickup truck’s hood flipped open on the Greenbelt area in the afternoon and several vehicles broke down near the Temple Hills and Landover exits. Just as the smaller, lighter, swifter English craft assailed and dodged the unwieldy ships of the Spanish Armada, the car drivers of the Maryland and Virginia suburbs zoomed around the trucks and shoehorned themselves in front, causing many truckers to jam frantically on their brakes, in typical Beltway fashion.
It’s very difficult to obtain definite news about the invasion of the Ukraine, because both sides continually exaggerate the amount of casualties they’ve inflicted on their opponents. But Russia is certainly paying a heavy price economically for its ill-judged foray.
Major companies are ending decades of business with Russia, including BP, Estée Lauder, Apple, Spotify, Ikea, Disney, Warner Bros., Expedia, Adidas, Exxon, Harley-Davidson, General Motors, Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Netflix, Tiktok, Puma, Airbnb, Lego, IBM, and Levi’s. This last one might be the most devastating of all to the Russians, who are obsessed with obtaining blue jeans.
The U.S. has banned imports of Russian oil, which, however, accounts for less than 10% of U.S. imports. More to the point is a similar resolution from the U.K. and the EU to be independent of Russian oil by 2030. Indeed, it is quite possible that one of the long-term results of the conflict in the Ukraine will be a lessened dependence on fossil fuels generally.
Despite the decline in hospitalizations and deaths, COVID remains the nation’s third-greatest killer, after heart disease and cancer. A loss of about 1,150 deaths per week from flu and other respiratory diseases such as RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is considered an acceptable rate for an endemic disease. As of the first week of this month, the U.S. was still experiencing 35,000 hospitalizations per day and 12,000 deaths per week from COVID. So it appears that COVID will not lose its pandemic status for some time to come.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 449,490,158; # of deaths worldwide: 6,034,438; # of cases U.S.: 81,012,694; # of deaths; U.S.: 987,608.