People Suck

It was one of those cold but clear winter days today.  A great day for going out for a hike - so that is exactly what I did.  But sadly it turned into one of the most unsatisfying hikes I've been on for quite some time.  I made a number of mistakes - the main one being that I arrived around lunchtime at the trailhead.  And I could tell just by the number of cars there that it was going to be way too busy.  And so it proved.  I wanted to get there earlier, so that is my bad.  But then if I'd got there too early, the fog might not have lifted yet.  Regardless, I wanted to do the hike so I set off - it's more of a walk than a hike and one I've done many times before, a flat about 4.5 mile there and back trail along a bay.  Although most people wore masks, I did not.  This was probably not wise - I think I got a lot of evil eyes.  But I had a bad experience of constantly taking my mask on and off on a previous hike this week that kept on fogging up my glasses in a big way, so I didn't want the hassle of that.  I also did the courtesy of turning my head away whenever I passed anyone - a good way to avoid any awkward eye contact.  Besides, I didn't think it was necessary - the path is wide enough that you can just about rely on social distancing.  But this assumes that people have the courtesy and decency to actually walk on the opposite side of the path than you - invariably, a lot of them didn't.  It's just inexcusable for people to not even walk in single file, or block the entire path at times.  A lot of these people were out taking their dogs for a walk - which I don't mind, as long as the dogs are kept on a leash.  And sure enough, I encountered plenty of one of my pet hates (a literal pet hate in this case) of unleashed dogs.  I actually told one couple to leash their dog as it bounded towards me soaking wet - which they promptly ignored me as they walked past without saying or doing anything.  So was just glad to get these steps in, and move on - and not go to this trail or encounter these type of people again anytime soon.