daily cardio, saguaro measurement edition

The lower hill in the center has been calling me. It looked approachable from the relatively-gentle northwest side, which is the left slope in this pic: It was fairly strenuous and 90% covered with loose rock fragments. The weird thing was the loose rocks were remarkably stable with almost no slipping. I suspect the sharp

cardio x2, cholla

yesterday From yeterday’s hike. This is what ocatillo skeleton looks like: I wanted to hike through a saddle NE of my position. I thought it would be passable based on two distant views but you never know. Looking back at the camper before I make an eastward turn toward the theoretical saddle: Still can’t see

the cake is a lie, charge controller edition

Note:  we are discussing charrging 2x 125Ah AGM in parallel, so C==250Ah.   Dealing in general principles here — the battery mfg should be able to provide more precise info.  If they don’t provide it then they probably aren’t making real deep cycle batteries. I’ve tried to get enough to ensure I end up floating charge

desert rain

It started raining lightly yesterday, and rained lightly-but-steadily through the night. There was a flash-flood warning in Yuma, the biggest/nearest town. People are always surprised to hear of floods and drowning in the desert but it definitely happens. Newbies sometimes camp in arroyos because they feel protected from the elements and observation. But those low

logistics: Quartzsite to Kofa

I was ready to leave Plomosa Rd BLM in Q; it was sparse when I got there but I have been increasingly surrounded by groups Class A and 5ers with generators, LED lights flashing all night, loose dogs, and shouty voices. Pro tip: if you park 100′ away and I know your first names before

preparing to move / bonus pics

Time isn’t up until the 20th, but as I’ve mentioned before I’d rather be in place away from people when the Inauguration occurs (“a Republic, if you can keep it” — Benjamin Franklin). I got everything ready to start the move tomorrow morning. I’ll do laundry, get another $9 shower, and pick up some torx

backchannel: [not] camping with Bob

The video thumbnail says “Camp with Bob!” …but folks with any passing familiarity with Bob know he doesn’t like to do that. He typically camps far away and “commutes” in. I have no problem with that, btw, but the crushing flocks of clueless newbies are his own fault. He sowed that field when he started

a half-morning in Quartzsite

I was poring over the next move and decided to make a trip into town.  I wanted to see if the flea market vendor with the mattock was present I am slightly (15%) concerned about a food run due to increasing political unrest, and that concern increases the closer we get to inauguration.  In case

covid stimulus II / early relo?

Looks like I’m going to be in the large group of folks that won’t get the stimulus directly. For those of that don’t get it by Jan 15, apparently: If your stimulus payment does not come by Jan. 15, 2021, the only way you can claim it is to file a tax return for the

backchannel: “how long would [a 100Ah battery] work?”

From this thread in /r/urbancardwellers .   How long will that thing work? Depends on what you mean. Typical 12v AGM one finds on Amazon, for example, are rated for  400-600 duty cycles if charged correctly.. Under those conditions the thing would work for ~1.5 years.  In the more likely case of insufficient charging I’d expect the