We hiked up the West Route on Grandeur Peak to see the inversion
smog from above. Every year this soup of pollution festers
in the valley. The whole city is suffocated in their own gaseous
waste for weeks and months at a time. I can only imagine the
negative health effects of this blanket of filth. Let's see...
we've got Magcorp, the worst
polluter in the entire country, 40 miles to the west,
we've got Dugway,
burning nerve agents and other chemical weapons, 40 miles
to the south, and every car pumping away under a cramped layer
of smog to create this suffocating broth of cancer.
Riding a bike downtown is like being held under a blanket,
while that fat sweaty dude from your high school gym class
rips wet, reesty sulphur-bombs right in your face.
It's strongly advised, to not exercise during the inversion.
So you've got your choice; get unhealthy by sitting around
your house all day, or get really unhealthy by exercising.
Years ago, I used to ride my bike downtown to work every day.
After a while, during the inversion, I got chronically sick.
After saving money for some time, I bought a powered gas mask
that I wore to work. I immediately started feeling better
(I know it looked weird, but I didn't care). One time, I stopped
on the street to watch Rod Decker interviewing a pedestrian.
I was hoping that he would ask me why I had the gas mask on.
But he just walked away, I guess I looked too intimidating.
I would have told him "Levels of pollution, that risk
the health of residents, should be illegalized", and
fines should have to be paid by the government to the residents
of Salt Lake.
Think about it... The government creates laws every day to
prevent harm to our bodies, why don't they do something about
this cancerous pesticide blanket? Could it have something
to do with...hmmm, I don't know... Money?
Magcorp + Dugway + Fossil Fuels = Lots of Money
Residents should get some of that money for the future health
problems that it's going to create.
Everything was frosted with rime a.k.a. hoarfrost.
One of the not-so-good views of Salt Lake City
Above is the sun, you can barely see Gloria hiking up below.
Surfacing out of the smog, gasping for fresh air.
I noticed that the air was extra harsh just under the death blanket.
Most of the visible haze isn't pollution, it's water vapor or frost.
Pollution isn't causing these low laying clouds,
instead the inversion holds all of the pollution in.
Above 6,000' or so, it was a beautiful day.
Most of what you see is water vapor.
Evil gasses churning below the tranquil blue sky.
The Inversion creates a beautiful liquid surface.
Like an island in a Clorox sea.
A ridge below Grandeur snuggling with the oozing evil exhaust.
In the distance, is the southern end of the Oquirrh Mountain Range.
Under the smog is the southern end of the Salt Lake Valley.
Mount Olympus gritting his teeth in the freezing cold liquid.
Flat Top Mountain 10,620' in the Oquirrhs to the southwest.
Lowe Peak 10,589' in the Oquirrhs.
2000 years from now, the city is gone, covered in a 1,500 ft. glacier
of snow.
Looking west over the Salt Lake Valley toward the Oquirrh Mountains.
Imagine a giant fish jumping out and swallowing a low flying plane.
Or don't, it's up to you.
But seriously, below the smog are thousands of Salt Lake City residents
feeling "Under the Weather".
By the way, there are 13 mule deer in the 1st picture.
4 on the left, 3 in the middle, and 6 on the right.
Thanks to Gloria
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