Social Distancing In The Form Of A Road Trip

Our state has been hit harder than other states with the Covid-19 pandemic. The governor banned groups of 50 or more people, all events like theater, symphony, etc., closed all restaurants, except for take-out orders, and closed all schools. We are to stay indoors as much as possible. If we do go outside, we’re to maintain a distance of six feet with other people.

My workload was pretty light this past week, so I took advantage of the weather on Friday and did a solo road trip to eastern Washington. I was going stir-crazy with the proclamation from the governor and needed to get away.

I left around 8:30 am and headed to the Othello area. Originally, I had planned to lead a Mountaineers photo/naturalist trip along the Coulee Corridor Birding Trail, but it had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. But, that wasn’t stopping me from going by myself.

I went to about a third of the birding spots I had mapped out. I saw some Sandhill cranes in the air near the county line ponds, but never did see huge flocks of them or any on the ground.

Near Potholes Reservoir, there was a huge flock of snow geese on the water – I’m talking thousands of them! When something spooked them, they all took to the air – they didn’t get the memo about social distancing!

I had planned to camp overnight at Potholes State Park, but changed my mind and headed back home. One the way back, I stopped at the Wild Horses Monument and finally hiked up to the top – no easy feat since it’s very steep (a 27% grade in one section) with loose dirt and stones. Thankfully, I had my trekking poles, which really helped keep me from slipping on the way back down.

I got back home around 8 pm, having had a really good day. I’m ok doing things solo – I like my own company!

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