Hiking from the Old Rag parking area to Stony Man – An unexpected snowfall – A comforting theory – Overturning of the Pennsylvania lawsuit – Evening statistics
After missing out on a couple of hikes with the Vigorous Hikers I was able to rejoin them this week. We started from the new parking area for Old Rag, the first time I’ve used it. It is a great improvement over the old one, being closer to the trailheads and thus averting the necessity for a lengthy road walk, and it is paved, so that one can avoid parking the car on muddy ground on days after recent rains. We did not go up Old Rag, however; instead we took the Nicholson Hollow Trail to Skyline Drive, turned onto the Appalachian Trail to go to Stony Man, took the horse trail leading out of Skyland to the Old Rag fire road, and returned via the Corbin Mountain Trail and the Nicholson Hollow Trail – something over 16 miles and about 3400 feet of elevation gain. It is interesting how the memory of certain trails does not always jibe with one’s most recent experience. I remembered the ascent along the Nicholson Hollow Trail from Corbin Cabin to Skyline Drive as being long, steep, and arduous. It is long, certainly – nearly two miles of steady ascending – but it is much less steep than I remembered. Perhaps it seemed more difficult on previous occasions because for some reason the hikes we did along this trail seemed to take place on hot days, when any kind of ascent becomes more taxing.
The weather was certainly not overly warm on this occasion. During the beginning it was in the high forties and rather sunny, excellent weather for a continual ascent. When we reached Skyline Drive, however, it became overcast, much colder, and windy as well. When we reached Stony Man it actually began to snow – only a dusting, it is true, but a fairly intense snow squall while it lasted. We tried to stop for lunch on the leeward side of the mountain, but even so it was too cold for me to sit there for long, since I had not brought extra layers of clothing to wear. It became steadily warmer as I returned down into the hollow and by the time I reached the Nicholson Hollow Trail again it was very pleasant. Much of the foliage is gone by now; Nature is beginning its annual slumber and casting off her finery. There is some comfort in the midst of a pandemic in being reminded that this slow alternation of systole and diastole continues with its usual steady beat and that the cycle of life outside of the purely human level endures without being affected by our current turmoil.
Some members of the group mentioned a report that they heard on the radio claiming that it is possible that many may be acquiring a degree of immunity to COVID without being aware of it. It seems that if droplets, instead of being concentrated in an enclosed room, are dispersed and scattered in the air, they may cause persons to contract the virus in such an attenuated state that they will have no symptoms; while at the same time the diluted concentration of the virus in one’s system will set antibodies in action. It certainly is a cheering theory; but I would like to obtain some sort of confirmation before subscribing to it.
Another cheering circumstance is that the lawsuit to block certification of the votes in Pennsylvania, based on the claim that independent observers were prohibited access to the polls in Philadelphia, was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes, well over the number needed to ensure that Biden’s total electoral vote count is over 270. More and more Republicans have been suggesting that the flurry of lawsuits will have no effect whatsoever, and presumably are poised to desert the sinking ship that is Donald Trump.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide 55,934,708; # of deaths worldwide: 1,342,942; # of cases U.S.: 11,695,711; # of deaths; U.S.: 254,255.