This is not my usual fare, but when a writer learns about something that pisses him/her off, the writer writes about it. I’ve written a number of times about the nearby Lake Calavera Preserve, as well as the adjoining Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve, but always in a positive vein. A great place for hiking, bicycling, or just enjoying the wonders of nature. (That hill in the photo, called Mount Calavera, is actually a volcano. But not to worry, it’s been “extinct” for 22 million years.)

So now I learned that, as recently as a few days ago, the police arrested some asshole—surprise, a young male—for molesting female hikers on the trail. His modus operandi: he would come up on them from behind riding an e-bike and smack them on their buttocks, then speed off like a bat out of hell. He’s been charged with seven counts of assault. What a jerk. And what a blight on an otherwise awesome nature preserve.

These days, inappropriate behavior seems to run rampant.