Illness on the trails – Devil’s Marbleyard – Bedford – Surprising number of boosters administered – Evening statistics
I have not yet mentioned my activities of much of last week, and yet they are not without interest. On the 14th (Tuesday) I went with the Vigorous Hikers to cover Overall Run and the Elkwallow area, but this venture did not turn out well. At lunch I felt a curious compression within the chest, almost certainly related to digestion; the pain began during the middle of eating and it was not radiating from the heart. Eventually it passed and I felt well enough to continue, but unfortunately I did not take care to be in the company of at least one other hiker, as I should have done under such circumstances. And within a short time after the hikers spread out I felt a recurrence of illness, this one accompanied by nausea and diarrhea, and it was so severe that I hastened to go off of the trail and wait until I could recover. I felt weak and faint for some time after I had vomited, and had to remain inactive for a few minutes. I called out at that point, but the others were out of earshot. Eventually I felt well enough to resume hiking, but when I got as far as the Weddlewood Trail it was becoming obvious that I would not reach the others in time, especially since the days are now shorter and I was in danger of not reaching the end of the hike before dark. So I returned to Matthews Arm Campground and from there to Skyline Drive, where I managed to find a couple of good Samaritans who were willing to give me a lift to a place where I could obtain cell phone service. Before they did so, however, we hailed a patrol car with two park rangers for assistance. These, I may say, were not very helpful. They were principally concerned with ensuring that I was not so ill as to necessitate my being taken to a hospital, which is comprehensible; but once I had assured them that I was feeling better I had quite a lot of difficulty in making them understand that my main concern at this point was to get to a place where cell phones could work and I would have an opportunity to contact the remainder of my group. I did at last extort from them an admission that at Thornton Gap the cell phone reception was much more reliable; to that point my rescuers accordingly transported me, and they were so considerate as to wait until I had contacted the other group members and received assurance of my being picked up before they left to return to Washington. They were indeed a very pleasant pair, and we chatted a great deal about our hiking experiences during the drive to Thornton Gap.
BR and DG, with whom I rode back to Centreville afterwards, wondered whether this episode could have been brought one by a reaction to the booster I had received on the 15th, and I cannot swear that this was not the case. This temporary illness, as I say, felt like a digestive issue. But I ordinarily am not subject to ailments of this kind, and whether or not this particular episode is a result of the booster shot, I simply do not know.
The following day all traces of the illness were gone and I went through with arrangements I had made previously to hike in Devil’s Marbleyard, whose trailhead is something over a 3-hour drive from my place, and afterwards to stay overnight at Bedford.
Both of these goals came off satisfactorily. Devil’s Marbleyard is an imposing 8-acre rock field with quartzite boulders ranging from the size of coffee tables to those of large vans. The trail goes up to the boulder field, providing comprehensive views of the forest below as one scrambles to the top, and eventually it forms a junction with a second trail that leads to the Appalachian Trail. The hike was about 8 miles in all, and after it was over I had time to check in and explore the town of Bedford.
I had stopped there briefly before when I had traveled to Burke’s Garden in October, but now I had a chance to look at it more carefully. It advertises itself as “The World’s Best Small Town”; and while I would not advance that claim for it, it certainly is an extremely attractive place, well-situated in a picturesque mountain valley, with very handsome architecture and numerous historical monuments. But it clearly has undergone hard times. I had anticipated dining in a restaurant within the historic town center, but there are virtually none available, nor indeed any building that serves as a gathering place for local residents. Many buildings were empty, with signs advertising that they were available for rent, and the streets were almost deserted as twilight began to fall. The town is very close to the Blue Ridge Mountains and one might expect it to provide stores and eating places that cater to tourists and to locals congregating to enjoy mountain-related sport activities. But there were none, at any rate in the town center. I was forced to dine well outside of the center, at a chain restaurant (Ruby Tuesday) – not at all a bad meal, by any means – and the hotels are also a couple of miles away from the center, including the one where I stayed. At this hotel, incidentally, the clerk noted with some regret, indeed with a touch of despondence, that the breakfast provided with the room was quite light and that in all probability it never would regain the variety it had provided before the pandemic started. It was difficult to tell whether the town’s depressed state is a result of the pandemic or of the decline of small towns in the U.S. generally.
Rather curiously, considering how many Americans are resistant to the idea of COVID vaccines, quite a significant amount of the population has already received booster shots. At this point nearly 20% of all people 18 years or older have received one. For those 65 or older, the number is twice as high. Of course, anyone who has already received a full vaccine is probably predisposed to receive a booster shot without protest. But it is still a curious discrepancy between the number of people who have refused to be vaccinated at all and the number of people who have been willing to receive boosters so promptly. It may be added that resistance to the COVID vaccines has greatly eroded among seniors; 99.9% of them have received at least one dose.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 258,354,484; # of deaths worldwide: 5,174,046; # of cases U.S.: 48,727,543; # of deaths; U.S.: 794,706.