Car accident in Baxter State Park – Daily statistics
This description of my recent trip to Maine will of necessity be lengthy, both on account of its duration (well over a week) and its variety, so my account will have to be divided into several parts. I will deal first with an event which, though it did not ruin the trip, made it much less enjoyable than it could have been.
The roads in Baxter State Park are gravel, and when I returned from the hike on Sunday (9/20) I struck a rock at such an angle that it not only caused the right front tire to go flat but broke a shaft attached to it. No one was injured, but the car could not be moved after the collision. The rangers, when they appeared, were not surprised by this incident. It seems that others have come to grief against this same rock, which is not large (above the surface) or especially noticeable and which protrudes slightly from the side of the road so that it is easy to hit. The park service has attempted to remove it, but it is too deeply submerged in the ground to enable them to do so without entailing considerable expense. This event was bad enough, but there was worse to come.
The car was not drivable even after the rangers changed the tire. They therefore arranged to have it towed to an auto repair shop in Medway. The car remained there for five days until the shop repairmen finally managed to examine it, at which point they determined that they did not have the facilities to fix it. They recommended that it be sent to another auto repair shop four miles away. The car is currently (as of 9/27) at this second place, where a cost estimate for repairs will be made. The insurance adjuster seemed content to allow the first auto repair shop to determine the schedule of getting an estimate; whenever I contacted him his response was “The auto shop hasn’t contacted me yet,” and it never seemed to occur to him that he might be the one who should be initiating the contacting. I have heard many stories about New England efficiency, but they do not seem applicable to Maine. Those Down-easters make the Virginia residents of Appalachia seem like paragons of industriousness in comparison.
I had to miss out on two days of hiking: Monday (9/21) to verify that the car had been towed, to get an idea from the auto shop as to when they would be able to supply an estimate to the adjuster, and to remove certain items from the car (the remote device for opening my garage door, for example); and Friday (9/25) to make arrangements for getting the car towed for the second auto shop and to go to Bangor International Airport to make arrangements for a car rental to get me and the two group members who rode with me back home.
At this point I still do not know whether the estimated expenses of the car repair will result in the car being totaled. The car has covered over 130,000 miles and I was thinking of getting a new one in the next year or so. Being forced to get a new car at this point is therefore not a particularly severe hardship – though obviously I would be glad to prolong its term of use if it is at all possible. But to deal with this issue during the entire length of the trip greatly interfered with my enjoyment of it.
This is not to say that the trip was ruined. The hikes were all enjoyable and some were memorable; the weather was perfect; the foliage was in the midst of acquiring all of the brilliance of a New England autumn; and it was gratifying to be in the company of good friends. The “episode,” if I may call it such, did not obliterate the pleasure I obtained from the trip but it certainly impaired it considerably.
I will write at length about the more positive aspects of the trip in another entry. Suffice it to say that the hikes in Baxter State Park are well worth the effort, particularly at a time of year when the autumn foliage is swiftly approaching its peak, and ascending to the summit to Katahdin is an experience that should not be missed.
Also I will tabulate the statistics of the past ten days, which may illustrate more graphically than a day-to-day report of how rapidly the virus is increasing.
9/18 – # of cases worldwide: 30,691,232; # of deaths worldwide: 956,396; # of cases U.S.: 6,925,941; # of deaths U.S.: 203,171.
9/19 – # of cases worldwide: 30,979,691; # of deaths worldwide: 960,838; # of cases U.S.: 6,967,221; # of deaths U.S.: 203,874.
9/20 – # of cases worldwide: 31,223,952; # of deaths worldwide: 964,762; # of cases U.S.: 7,004,768; # of deaths U.S.: 204,118.
9/21 – # of cases worldwide: 31,475,289; # of deaths worldwide: 969,120; # of cases U.S.: 7,046,216; # of deaths U.S.: 204,506.
9/22 – # of cases worldwide: 31,750,311; # of deaths worldwide: 974,024; # of cases U.S.: 7,096,392; # of deaths U.S.: 205,401.
9/23 – # of cases worldwide: 32,083,275; # of deaths worldwide: 981,219; # of cases U.S.: 7,139,036; # of deaths U.S.: 206,560.
9/24 – # of cases worldwide: 32,407,973; # of deaths worldwide: 957,697; # of cases U.S.: 7,185,471; # of deaths U.S.: 207,538.
9/25 – # of cases worldwide: 32,748,342; # of deaths worldwide: 992,886; # of cases U.S.: 7,236,381; # of deaths U.S.: 208,369.
9/26 – # of cases worldwide: 33,047,704; # of deaths worldwide: 998,285; # of cases U.S.: 7,287,561; # of deaths U.S.: 207,177.
9/27 – # of cases worldwide: 33,297,503; # of deaths worldwide: 1,002,137; # of cases U.S.: 7,320.699 # of deaths U.S.: 209,453.
There doesn’t seem to be any consistency in our day-to-day statistics. On some days the American case count increase is over 40,000 (even over 50,000 on one day) and on others it is less than 30,000; the American death toll exceeds 1,000 on some days and is relatively low on others; today, for instance, the death toll was 276. What is clear, however, is that we are unable to display a convincing tread of deceleration. In all fairness it must be noted that, although the U.S. accounts for just under a third of the cases still active, the American death toll is less than 21% of the world death toll at large.
The virus does appear to be slowing down in Brazil. Its case rate increase at this point is considerably less than our own. On the other hand, India is suffering greatly. It now has over 6,000,000 cases. The death toll from the virus is relatively low, but it almost certainly is under-reported. Many Indians die at their homes rather than in hospitals, and there is little regulation as to what is reported on death certificates regarding the cause of death.
One other undesirable milestone was achieved today: the world death toll from the COVID virus has surpassed one million.