Catoctin Mountain Park Hike – Celebrating Diwali – COVID in Russia – Big Bird and Ted Cruz – Evening statistics
Yesterday I led a hike for the Capital Hiking Club in Catoctin Mountain Park. It got off to a somewhat hectic start. I have seen the Catoctin Mountain parking areas crowded on occasion in the past, but never to the extent that they were yesterday; both lots adjoining the Visitor Center were full, and cars were parked along the road and in other parking areas half-a-mile or more from the Visitor Center. Several hiking groups beside our own had elected to hike there that day. No doubt the lovely weather (in the 50s, sunny and clear, with the particularly mellow light that is characteristic of mid-autumn) was an important factor.
Once our group got collected, however, matters went more smoothly. We paused at various junctions to ensure that everyone stayed on the route, but at no point did we have to wait more than a few minutes. Everyone was hiking at a good pace. The park features numerous overlooks, where we stopped to take in the view. There is plenty of variety among these: the view at Chimney Rock, for instance, looks down upon an uninhabited portion of a wooded valley, while Thurmont Vista (as the name indicates) provides a bird’s-eye view of the town of Thurmont, and the Blue Ridge Summit, where we ate lunch, overlooks scattered farms. We took a slight detour to view Cunningham Falls, the largest cascading waterfall in Maryland, as well. The water was flowing freely, thanks to the recent rains, over the rocks down to the pool at its base 78 feet lower than the top where the falls begin.
I was a bit hampered by the fact that no second leader was available. At the beginning, before we set off on the hike, I polled the group to determine whether to lead the long or the moderate hike. The majority said that they wished to do the long hike, so I thought that I would have to send the few who wished to do the moderate hike on their own. By the time the two hikes diverged the moderate hikers would be staying upon a trail that had only one significant turn, so the risk would not be enormous. By the time we reached the Blue Ridge Summit, however, I noticed that the energy of several hikers was flagging and I polled them again while we had lunch. At that point all but four opted to do the moderate hike. So I took the four who wished to do the longer hike and went over the route with them. Again, there were not many turns to worry about and they had my cell phone number if they ran into difficulties, so I was not overly worried. They appear to have completed it without running into any significant problems.
The remainder went under my guidance along the moderate route, and none of them were complaining at the end about receiving short measure. We socialized a bit in the parking area after our return, talking about the club hikes in general. There is a great desire for the return of the bus hikes. Many hikers in DC who do not have cars have relied in the past on clubs such as CHC and the Wanderbirds to give them the opportunity to get transport to the various parks in the area. I myself hope that we will see a return of the bus hikes in the near future, but it is unlikely that they will be restored until after the New Year.
Today I went to what was, for me, an unusual celebration, that of Diwali. It is a somewhat amorphous holiday, being observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and even some Buddhists, and the observations vary from one region to another. GP, our host, comes from the extreme south of India, whereas two of the guests were from other regions, and the descriptions that each gave of the manner in which they celebrated the holiday in their native regions differed greatly from the others’. However, there are certain common features. The holiday celebrates the spiritual victory of light over darkness and appears to have had its origins in a harvest festival, since it is celebrated during a new moon during early to mid-autumn. The celebrants clean and sometimes redecorate their houses, and they wear their finest attire (GP and the two Indian guests wore beautifully colored sherwanis, coat-like garments that come down to the ankles). Another feature of the holiday is feasting, and that we had in abundance: GP provided a variety of vegetarian dishes, including a soup flavored with garlic and coriander, naan, and a rather complicated entrée with potatoes and various seasonings. GP’s roommate said that he had spent at least eight hours preparing the food, and I can easily believe it. GP is a member of the Capital Hiking Club (in fact he has been my co-leader on occasion), which is how I and a few other club members obtained an invitation. Many of the guests from the CHC were meeting the other guests for the first time, but soon we were all chatting together as if we had known one another for years.
Such peaceful and harmonious scenes present quite a contrast to what has been going in other parts of the world. At this point, for instance, Russia is undergoing a wave of the virus just as severe as the delta variant has been here. It is consistently averaging more than 40,000 new cases every day. The official death toll is about 246,000 but state statistical service, which also counts deaths in which the virus was a contributing factor or was suspected but not confirmed, indicate the virus’ impact is significantly more severe and that the real death toll is actually about 462,000. If this figure is accurate, it means that Russia’s mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, far worse than that of the U.S. or of most European countries outside of Hungary and the Balkan nations.
There is something of a flurry going on over the virus in this country as well, but it is taking the form of comic relief. A Twitter message that purports to come from the popular Big Bird muppet from Sesame Street said that he had received his COVID vaccine: “My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.” This light-hearted tweet has drawn down the wrath of various anti-vaxxers, who denounce the “propaganda” being disseminated to their children, and among this group is none other than Ted Cruz. I have previously disparaged him for flying to Cancun while his state was undergoing an electrical crisis caused by the weather; at this point my opinion of him has sunk to such a depth that I now wish heartily that he had never returned. I suppose that such a wish is rather inconsiderate of the Mexicans.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 250,597,519; # of deaths worldwide: 5,064,450; # of cases U.S.: 47,336,577; # of deaths; U.S.: 775,218.