October 16, 2021

In Shenandoah National Park – An honest misunderstanding – Youngkin’s predicament – Another COVID tragedy – Evening statistics

It was somewhat imprudent to go hiking the day before starting a trip that will entail more than a week of hiking each day.  But the hike was a good one, and in addition I wanted to ensure that the official Wanderbirds hikes were being kept alive.  There were only four of us today, partly because CB, the leader, specified getting an early start in order to arrive at Shenandoah National Park before the hordes of leaf-observers did and partly on account of the weather forecast, which called for rain by 11 or 12.  The hike went from the Pinnacles parking area up to Stony Man, then down to the fire road and eventually reaching the Corbin Cabin Cutoff Trail back to Skyline.  The ascent along the Corbin Cabin Cutoff Trail is quite steep, with nearly 1000 feet of elevation gain in 1.4 miles, an average grade of 12%, and a maximum grade of 31% in some places.  I managed to get back to the car in time before the rain began shortly after 12, but two of my fellow-hikers were less fortunate.  But the hike itself was worth doing; it may be accounted the first hike I’ve been able to do in the midst of autumn foliage, which is beginning to display its full colors at long last.  The lack of cool weather during September has inhibited the leaf coloring up to this point.  From the Little Stony Man overlook, especially, were extensive views of the various colors of the leaves of the trees in the forest below.

Ted Cruz has just pleaded guilty to the murder of 17 students and staff at a high school in Florida – no, scratch that.  The person in question is Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 years old and an expelled student at the time of the 2018 massacre; it came into my head, however, and I am sure I do not know how I happened to think of it – but it came into my head to wonder whether there was a connection between the two.  The enterprising behavior of the latter during the events that led up to the January 6th riot may perhaps have something to do with it.

I can almost feel sorry for Glenn Youngkin.  He needs the aid of the Trump faction to win the gubernatorial election and he cannot risk giving an excuse for Trump to turn on him during the final weeks of the race.  But he also cannot afford to be too closely aligned with Trump, who is widely disliked, indeed loathed, in the suburbs of both Washington and Richmond, which are critical swaths among the Virginia voters.  At this point he is on tenterhooks as to whether Trump plans to hold a rally in Virginia; if he does, the vote will almost certainly swing to McAuliffe.  Trump, as many candidates are beginning to realize, is a very dangerous ally.

Another sad tale, one of the many that this pandemic is fueling:  Misty Mitchum, aged 46, died from COVID on September 23rd.  Her husband Kevin, aged 48, was admitted to the hospital on the day of his wife’s death and he also lost the battle with the virus on October 8th.  They leave five children behind, ranging in age from 11 to 22.  Neither of them would receive the vaccine, but according to Mike Mitchum, Kevin’s brother, Kevin expressed regret for not doing so once he became ill.  “Part of our pain is anger,” Mike said about himself and other grieving relatives. “Anger because people are still not getting the vaccine. If you think about it, you need to have certain vaccines before you can even go to school. What’s the big deal about this one?”

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 241,147,057; # of deaths worldwide: 4,909,548; # of cases U.S.: 45,773,318; # of deaths; U.S.: 744,381.