coming down the mountain
I came off the mountain Monday when the snow let up. Once again the front-wheel-drive Promaster was surefooted as a gazelle.
There was an overlook after you descended to about 7,000:
I stopped that night south of SLC (Westin?) and stealthed in an industrial area. Tues I rolled into SLC proper and stealthed on side streets and spend the days in the excellent local parks:
The weather was delightful, and you could maintain ideal temp by moving between shade and sun. I sat in a lawn chair and started Anna Karenina.
insolation
My solar yield is vastly improved. Although higher altitude is associated with higher yield, being 4k lower here in SLC got me out of the tree canopy, bad weather, and snowfall on the panels. :-)
I hit Vabs around 10am, although admittedly this was assisted by my drving to the park this morning. On the other side of the equation, I’m charging the scooter, which is about 100w after inverter losses.
Salt Lake City
SLC in general is lovely, outdoors-oriented and very clean. People walking and biking everywhere. Once you get near downtown there is litter, wandering street folk, etc. I blasted around the downtown area a bit on the scooter. (not sure I ever published the post about the scoot – will check).
I saw a small BLM gathering in a minor civic space and stopped by to see how it was going. There were a few hundred folks there so I masked up. The gathered crowd carried signs related to the cessation of police violence (a concern I share). The speaker spent about 25% of her time on that issue and the rest of it free-ranging into patriarchy, the male gaze, and similar social justice warrior digressions (concerns I do not share).
I’m no social organizer, but if I were I’d probably use the main stage to address the central topic, and to announce “break out” meetings for tangential and potentially-divisive interests. “Social justice breakout over there at 3pm. Communitarians in the back at 3:15. Right-anarchists under the clamshell at 4pm.”
One of my guiding principles is to look for areas of agreement, and work together on that. Recognize differences and go our separate ways on those aspects:
> I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong -- Frederick Douglass
I resumed my exploration and made my way back to the camper.
This morning on the way to a park I passed the county courthouse complex where a large BLM gathering was occurring. Media, police presence, etc.
tomorrow
The temple complex opens at 9am, so I will stage near there tomorrow morning and visit before it gets warm.
Not sure what happens after that.