Training Log Archive: Swampfox

The highlight of the day had to be going to ski, parking, walking to the trailhead, and seeing that...three horses had proceeded me on the ski trails!

Just incredible. Definitely sub-morons at work.

Of course, when you ride horses on the trails, people are going to see you, and the Forest Service was called right away, along with the head groomer. A law enforcement ranger was able to catch and talk with the riders as they were coming off the trails, but almost as incredibly, there wasn't much the ranger could do about it at that point but talk to them, as *technically* the riders hadn't broken any laws or regulations.

That was also before the ranger had had any chance to see how far the riders had ridden (all the way out to the very end of the trail net) or how much damage the horses had done. The ranger did end up going out with the groomer to see the extent of it. Even after that, it still wasn't clear that there was anything the horse riders could be cited for, but I imagine it will be taken up with the District Ranger first thing tomorrow.

And apparently these folks didn't go out their innocently/dumbly, but went out there deliberately to assert their "right" to ride out there.

Some things are just hard to understand.

It was a totally beautiful day with lots of sun, and generous breeze out of the Denver direction. I skied and ran (by the time I skied all of the new snow had slushed and was in the process of re-hardening, making for some nice ice rut skiing), but the highlight today was biking.

I was curious to see how Laramie looked the day after a declaration of a national emergency, and, quite honestly, it looked exactly like it always looked. I biked all around town for more than 2 hours, and checked out various neighborhoods, parks, the Post Office, the library, downtown, convenience stores, restaurants, grocery stores (not many of those to check), travel centers, and the interstate.

In fact, the only thing that seemed at all out of place was seeing *more* people in all these places than I would usually expect to see on this particular weekend, which happens for fall the day after Spring Break started. Normally when Spring Break comes around, Laramie empties out and is kind of a ghost town for the week. Now it is true that over the past few years, Laramie has been getting somewhat busier, with more traffic, more shoppers, etc., so the breaks aren't as noticeable as they used to be. Plus, it was indeed a really nice day out, coming towards the end of late winter, so you would normally see more people out and about on a day like this as well.

Even so, I am guessing that part of the reason there were so many people around is because of maybe folks choosing *not* to travel in this very special circumstance that has sprung up.

But behaviors--the way I saw people interacting, and congregating and so on--seemed exactly the same as usual.

I wonder how it's going to look in one more week.

It was overcast all day long with very light flurries in town during the day, really just snow in the air.

Up top, however, was a different matter. When I went up to ski in the late afternoon, there was strong wind out of the east with lots of snow in it. I skied out to the very far (east) end of the trail network, with snow stinging my face the entire way. Once out there, then it all stopped and for a few minutes it was almost calm. Gradually wind picked up again and by 20 or so minutes later, the snow resumed and never stopped for the time I was out.

On the way back in, I spotted an unfamiliar bird, and attempted to use the bracketing method the top bird experts employ to make a difficult identification. I started by ruling out ostrich and penguin. Easy. Next I moved on and ruled out eagle and hummingbird. Then rooster and great horned owl.

I must admit that at that point I departed from the method and struck out the entire raptor class just because I felt like it before returning to bracketing. Rookie mistake and one I'm sure no expert would ever make. But I re-focused and got back on track.

Crow and kirtland's warbler. Gull and carolina wren. Now I was getting somewhere. Blue heron and nuthatch. At this point I could tell I was close. And I was. It was now down to the final, critical choice: either blue jay or red crossbill. This is what the experts live for, but what chance did a mere amateur like me have? I wrestled with the decision for some minutes. I even thought about tossing a coin. But at the last possible moment, something made me lean ever so slightly towards...red crossbill.

I don't know what it was that made me lean that way, but how exciting to get back home, consult the bird book, and find out I had been right!!!!!!

Today was a good example of lived cognitive dissonance. I spent much of the day at my desk, reading news and reports and following what was going on across various markets, and in all getting the general sense of how poorly the national response (especially from the very top of the Administration) has been so far, and what the looming danger is from the corona virus. And, you know, there was not a whole lot of good news out there.

And then I went out for some exercise, and while skiing around at Happy Jack, the sun was out, the temperature was pleasant, the ski conditions were good spring conditions, I skied for a while with two folks I know. It was all really nice, and there was no sense that anything going on was in the slightest sense abnormal.

For the time being, it's interesting to think about how things might look right here in Laramie in a week, and then again in 2 weeks. Several people I've been in contact with the past few days from other parts of the country have expressed the view that it must be reassuring to be located in such an isolated place (Laramie) which is unlikely to be touched by something like the corona virus. Which makes me laugh a little--as if an interstate didn't run through town, and as if thousands of people didn't come and go from town every day, a student population at UW coming from a very widely dispersed area, etc.

Biked in mid afternoon. So typical! As I was looking out the window from my office and starting to get ready to go, it was completely sunny out. By the time I had my bike rolling and was a few minutes into the ride, clouds had swept in, and that was that for the sun. At least there was strong wind, so that kind of salvaged things.

Skied afterwards, and concluded that at around dusk and apparently also shut down the trail network for the day, as my truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot by then.

Once home and glancing over the news, I saw that news was just out that SOFT had just taken the decision that all O' events in Sweden with over 500 competitors would be banned until further notice, due to the corona beer (virus) situation. Not looking good for Tiomila, it would appear.

Skied and ran. Running on the snow trails is getting tougher, due to very little bike traffic and a freeze/thaw cycle that is leaving some parts icier, and others rotten. You definitely need to pay attention to where you're stepping.

As usual for the time of the year, ski traffic during the work has fallen well off, with no more high school and middle school skiing, and generally most people not skiing nearly as much this of year.