Winter time backpacking

Lower Mount Cammerer seemed to be the right place.

It was a blustery Saturday morning. I wasn’t feeling very well due to some bad sushi and seaweed the night before.

And it was cold. But Kelsie wanted to get out and I was eager to get some more woods time. She’s still rehabbing her ankle from surgery in October.

I probably couldn’t keep up with her in normal time when she’s doing her 20 plus mile days in the Smokies. She finished all the trails in the park in like nine months.

We got there pretty early so we had time to do a lot of collecting of wood. Remember this is the Woodford Hayes Backcountry campsite.

How about this epic three for one split? Our fire was so hot it melted my socks.

I was having Khumbu ice fall flashbacks.

But it was a fantastic outing in a wonderful, peaceful place. Kelsie is definitely on the mend and will be back  to 15-mile days again so I’ll never see her.

We made a detour on the way out up to the Sutton overlook.

We were out in time to enjoy lunch at Lois’s in Newport. Of course it was packed and no one was wearing a mask. Both of us have already experienced covid in all its glory so we know it’s not a democratic hoax. And everyone was there after church.

Now I like a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone. I’ve gone down a few rabbit holes in my time. In the end there’s only one conspiracy theory that I think actually has some merit. But I will talk about that at a later time. However I’ve never let some conspiracy theory drive me to kill someone or create an insurrection. I’ve never gone to a great length to put a hat on Jesus Christ and say he’s a member of some organization. I’ve never let a human being convince me to attack a building or another human. And I’ve never worshiped any man like he’s a deity.

If any of this sounds like you, then take note. I’m going to tell you a little story. Back in the run-up to the gulf war when Colin Powell was telling everyone about weapons of mass destruction I cried foul. I was as assiduous a student of the news then as now. Something smelled rotten in Denmark . When I protested, many people called me names and one of those was unpatriotic. I lost some friends over that situation. It turns out that the whole Iraq invasion was a sham. There were no weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. But it got us into the oilfields, didn’t it?

These same people who believe that then are believing this stuff now. I guess because Biden wasn’t born in Africa.  If I watched one news station all day long I would probably be spouting that propaganda too. I have been railing against the dangers of this fascism that has come to America for the past four years. Not because I’m some kind of psychic. But because I’m able to think for myself and research things from multiple viewpoints.

Since I have friends from all over the world who constantly email me and ask me what the hell is going on in my country, I honestly have to respond that there is no good answer. Someone once said when fascism comes to America it will be cloaked in the flag and carrying a Bible.

Well folks that day came. If you will notice, no one ever said oops I was wrong about the Iraq war thing. That’s because these same people still believe that Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor in New York.

If any of this sounds like you, then take note. What happened in our capital is in part, your doing. And you have a choice to make. Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1800s said of the United States, ..”democracy is the worst form of government there is but it is the best that we’ve got.”  He also said that good men would never run for public office. I sincerely hope that in my lifetime we’ve seen the worst of it but when I read that 78% of Republicans think Trump actually won the election, I know more is on the way. If that is true, then why did Republican officials refute his claims and his own hand-picked judges laugh this stuff out of court?

Another Patriot once said now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. There needs to be Justice and punishment for those who led this insurrection against our country. And I’m going to make another prediction. When the truth comes out we’re going to find out that this was an inside job. This thing followed the playbook that Paul Manafort wrote for the Ukraine and other tin pot dictators throughout his history. (You will note that Manafort was pardoned recently by Trump after admitting he had lied to federal investigators about, you guessed it, Russia)

Iff you’re unfamiliar with Paul Manafort then you may want to go back and educate yourself and read the Senate intelligence committee report. I’m the only person you know who did that. I’m also probably the only person you know who read the entire Mueller report. Color me crazy but I somehow feel as if that is our civic duty as Americans. But if you choose to let people like Ted Cruz and Newt Gingrich synthesize information for you, then you definitely get the government you deserve. I’ll bet neither of them read those documents either.

Donald Trump is an agent of Russia. not in the spy sense but in the useful idiot sense. In a man’s wallet there is heart will also be. Trump’s heart is with Deutsche Bank because no American Bank would ever lend him money anymore because he was such a bad risk. So why would  this German bank would  be interested in him? Well the answer is quite obvious to anyone with any sense. They were laundering rubles.

So if you’re  unable to play connect the dots, I suggest you start with the Senate intelligence committee report. That’s a Republican-led committee, by the way.

It’s time for everybody in this country to be a part of the solution instead of the problem. We have the worst covid statistics in the world because of the ineptitude of this moron who led us for the past 4 years.  I got covid because people I was around don’t believe in masks and trusted a real estate guy more than scientists.

So if this post offends you, I’m sorry. But I’m offended by what happened at the capital last week. And I’m offended at what happened at Lois’s restaurant the other day. I’m offended at the selfishness of people in this country.

You either stand for justice and unity or you don’t. And if you believe any of the lies that come out of Donald Trump’s mouth, then you owe your nation some soul searching. And I don’t just feel sorry for you I feel sorry for this country. Donald Trump is not Jesus Christ, he is not Cyrus and he is not a martyr. He is a lying, grifting, real estate hustler. And always has been. Jesus called Satan, the father of the lie. It was a lie that caused original sin. Most people in this country see the truth. Maybe you have been fooled.

Peace in the future, I hope.

John